ohsweetie

a day in the life

2012-01-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

I can easily say that 2008 was my year. Right up there with 2005, it was one of the best years of my life. As 2011 came to a close I started to get this feeling that 2012 will too be monumental. For what, I'm not sure, but I'm feeling something ramp up, the excitement grow, and I'm ready for 2012 to be amazing. What that seems to mean, so far, is this incredible self transformation from Diandra to Diandra the athlete. Learning about how my body works in a physical capacity and where my limits are physically as well as mentally/emotionally, and food-wise. And utterly committing myself to being a roller derby skater. I know for a fact we'll be moving in a year or two (more like two) so I want to be able to "transfer" into an established, kick ass team, rather than climb up the ranks of fresh meat again. I want another team to want me. And that's going to take a lot of work and dedication. It's super emotionally and physically exhausting, but I'm ready and I'm enjoying it.

Vegan "pepperoni" crumbles. so good.

Seth distracts himself while I cook.

My new go to - Larabars! Check out our post on Larabars at HOME SWEET HOME!

Learning to eat vegan. A mix of food from the fridge. YUM.

I've also made the commitment to go completely vegan. Two incredibly difficult transitions in just three weeks has been eye opening and a great challenge. Our menu plans are getting a little wild and I'm feeling pretty "clean" on the inside if that makes any sense.

Tonight is Stewart's 28th birthday party! We're having a TMNT themed event and I'm making lots of sheet pizzas meaty, vegan, glutenfree/vegan and stewart's making turtle burgers ala Epic Meal Time. I'll be making 5 batches of pizza dough. We're serving mountain dew as a beverage. And my mom's getting a theme cake. I'm gonna head out and take sethie to the farmer's market. Go to sweet avenue. and then come home, put that kid to bed, and make the dough. Swimming later. I love my weekends.

my undying love for ed burns

2012-01-20T16:02:00.000-08:00

you heard it here first!!

#14: Finish my Birthday Sweater

2012-01-16T20:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the Terrible PHOTOS! yuck. instagram + tonal sweater + dark house = awful pics. it's cozy and its perfectly only one thing pisses me off, but it was in the last 10 inches on the arm so no way I was ripping back. this one has been on the needles for like 8 months! thank heavens it's over (and i can cross it off my list). XO

who would want to be such a control freak?

2012-01-04T23:49:00.003-08:00

Me: "I want a peppermint patty!"
Derby Wife: "No, you want Plank!"

Hello, 2012. I'm ready for you to kick my ass. We had a great relaxing holiday. I worked more than I wanted to but am feeling energized and ready to take on this one hell of a busy year. I think I've got it under control. Refocusing my derby priorities. Get to host a juniors camp through work. Super yes! Almost done my birthday sweater. About 10 inches or less left on one arm, the other arm, weaving in, and blocking the front part. Oh, and sewing in the band to keep the neck nice and sturdy. Also inspired to do a number of home things around here (see my pinterest HOME SWEET HOME board for inspirations!!) and to finish tackling my list on the left.

Other things I'm excited for are to be OFF the board of AVRG. It's really getting in the way of me wanting to be a killer skater. I have so much work to do to be a great skater! And, as the Roller Derby Association of Canada forms itself up I wish I had more time to contribute because it's going to be amazing. I'll probably not let go of this one for dear life.

Oh, and I'm excited for rollercon! and Blood and Thunder! And the may RDAC bootcamp in Kamloops! and whatever other fun stuff comes our way!!!! Wait, 2012 will be the year of roller derby and the fifth year of marriage for me and Stewart. Super fun times await!

self reference

2012-01-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

Because making ironic funny statements about yourself is hip.

My Favourite Music of 2011

2011-12-29T13:44:00.000-08:00

It was a great year for the music I love.

Midnight City is by far my favourite track of the year. XO

A year in photos

2011-12-20T14:42:00.000-08:00

Smash Patriarchy tattoo - January 2011

Foggy and Snowy on the Hump - February 2011

Katsudon, I die, best meal of the year, hands down - March 2011

Vegan transition, coconut yoghurt - April 2011

We've managed to have a baby for a year and not kill it ! ! - May 2011

Embracing summer, skirts, tights, toms - June 2011

The AVRG come out into public, exciting times - July 2011

My dream couch that I've been hunting for FREE on freecycle - August 2011

Cave Singers at Rifflandia IV, I had an incredibly amazing get away weekend with Stewart - September 2011

six min eggs and mizuna - October 2011

My betiko favourite knit of the year - November 2011

My Derby Wife and I making Ganache, so happy this lady came into my life this year - December 2011

FO: Stemwinder

2011-12-19T15:53:00.001-08:00

Woo! Went to make this hat for my Derby Wife, Chia Grrr'vara, and knit it too small. Kid's small. So now it sits all lovingly on his head. Knit it out of Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce. Wanna know how to get a toddler to sit still for the camera? Totoro. It's ridiculous. I used the Stemwinder pattern by my gal Laura over at HOME SWEET HOME. This is the ravelry project page. My voice is pretty non existent today and I've spent most of the day in bed or near the bed. Heading back to lying down. Have a great holiday b/c I probably wont see you until the new year! XO

before the week starts

2011-12-18T21:27:00.001-08:00

Tonight was our annual hanukkah feast and HONESTLY there were about 40 people in our house. Lots of kids high on sufganiot and sparkling juice, teenagers gleefully happy off of the massive pile of rum balls that stewart made, and my voice is almost 100% gone. done. finished for. And now I'm hungry (thank GOD for leftovers) and need to have a bath and hit the hay. If I don't see you until after the holidays... sorries, but have fun!XO

as time goes by...

2011-12-17T21:06:00.001-08:00

It's officially transitioned from fall into winter, though solstice is a few days away, the oncoming of xmas has truly made it's mark. Our pre-hanukkah hanukkah feast is tomorrow and our friends have (thankfully) taken on some of the meal preparations. I'm excited (and nervous) about the huge people load that will be here tomorrow: fun! Regardless of me knowing every year exactly when they're coming, the holidays are always a last minute thought for me. I don't carve out the time and I don't save up the money to go hog wild, which is good, because that's not the holidays I really want anyway. And the post-SLAY BELLES hangover finally fell right into a brutal cold and had me pretty much off of work this whole last week. YUCK. And not even days off with a lot of accomplishments. Lots of lying on the couch or the floor, fighting for a few extra hours of sleep (I've reinstituted my 11pm bedtime, hoping for lower next time), and avoiding doing dishes or even making dinner opting for eating out (expensive but delicious) and popcorn and totoro for dinner. The best times. I don't really know what my xmas angst is about and while we've pared down so much I truly only have one person to "buy" for (and I collected all year and made stuff for them too), there's always the people I forget (like a cousin - we each take a relative from this family; or my grandpa - guh!; or even my step mom - ooops!). I tend to skip friends almost entirely but managed to pick up a few goodies a while back, regardless I'll send my "xmas parcels" in April like I always do, which I really like doing anyway.And the knitting two more things to knit, both in progress, one for my derby wife and one for my step dad (I had him in the swap this year). I knitted things for Stewart's family but I'm worried about lurkers so pictures will be posted as soon as they receive their parcel (of which I have to send first). This post has been too nitty processy. I'm a bit tired and am avoiding the cooking I have to do for tomorrow, but will nip that in the bud and get the vegan brisket in the oven pronto, so it can bake while we watch LOVE ACTUALLY. Happy Chrismukkah!!

weee ol' update

2011-12-05T00:20:00.001-08:00

I know, it's been almost a month since I posted here last. It's brutal. (I have been posting at HOME SWEET HOME if you're really desperate). After we got back from the OK I got pretty sick and then got a flu shot (fuck yes flu shot virgin and i love it so far) and then things have been SO BUSY gearing up for SLAY BELLES 2011 which is happening this weekend here in port alberni. Eeeeeps!!! So much to do, just the right amount of time, and Port Alberni gets to finally put ourselves on the map for Roller Derby! Yay!

I was thinking about updating a bit on how my goals are coming (see the left).

1. Not going to Hilo, but going to blood & thunder bootcamp in Abbotsford in February AND to Rollercon in Vegas in July. So I'll cross this one off when I get back from Vegas.

2. we have moved upstairs and now have space for our teapots. we have yet to decide where they are going, though, so that's why it's not crossed off yet.

6. appointment booked! idea decided. it's going to be better than everyone's tattoos in the world COMBINED

9. I've passed everything but my laps. I must work out almost every day to work on my endurance. FML.

13. new bedroom. still needs to be painted. going for a look like this.

14-16. i don't wanna talk about it

21. going very well.

29. booking for early january.

how do you spell FUCK out of coquihalla?

2011-11-14T22:39:00.001-08:00

well, we actually made it to the OKANAGAN on the weekend! hurrah! on thursday night our ferry was an hour late, and then on friday we spent the better part of the afternoon stuck up in a line of cars on the Coquihalla just about 30KM north of Hope. Thankfully had somewhere to turn around and head back down on the right side of the road. That line of car went for MILES. (did you see it on the news?) the part that I didn't really understand was that at a point when I could've turned around we rolled down the window and I asked an RCMP officer who was standing on the side of the road if we should turn around and he said, "KEEP GOING!" stupid jerk. and when we turned around no one else really was. so they were stuck up there on the mountain, barely out of the lower mainland, in the dark. not even katy perry could put some fun into that friday night.

luckily we got on the hope princeton and the roads were pretty good all the way to osoyoos. my sister ended up taking my car, with my camera inside, so i didn't get any pictures of our great great fun! including family dinner at stewart's grandma's house, seth running around in circles and eating chips at his other great grandma's house, massive family breakfast at the diner, family visit at lauralee's craft store, family visit at timmy's in penticton, running around the beach with seth in penticton, the insanity of the mall in Kelowna, the yummy vegetarian pasta i made at stew's mom's house in kelowna, nor the beautiful beautiful day outside on sunday in kelowna (i had forgotten about my camera by this point). and then today on the way home i also forgot to get pictures of this incredible fruit stand we visited in summerland. i bought a huge bag of apples from just up the road, pears from just up the road, and organic shallots deemed "the best shallots in BC" by the farmstand owner, which were grown in cawston. yum!

what i did get pictures of though, was the snow. on the coq. and on the hope-princeton. and our crazy faces. OMG.

hope-princeton

get us off this mountain!

line of cars for miles and miles!!

SLAY BELLES 2011

2011-11-09T23:35:00.002-08:00

My league is holding our first bout here in Port Alberni on December 10th! There will be a beer garden! A 50/50! Hot women on roller skates smashing each other and going for the glory of the holiday massacre on skates! Have you liked us on Facebook yet? Let me know if you want tickets! Or if you live in another land and want to buy a tshirt or tickets as a donation for our awesomeness!

FO: Ocean Breathes Salty

2011-11-06T11:09:00.003-08:00

I've been on a bit of a Modest Mouse kick lately. I was really into them when I was a teeny bopper in the mid to late 1990s. I even have a memory of seeing them in Victoria at an all ages show when I was like 14. Pretty epic.

This shawl is my first shawl for myself in a long while (2 years! I knit one right when we moved here). The pattern is called Betiko and it was designed by the lovely Lee Meredith of Leethal.net. I've knit a few of Lee's patterns and what I love about them is their challenging construction. My bff Laura designed a hat using one of her techniques. You should check it out. Anyway, since Lee released this pattern in her mystery pattern I had been dying to make one, and finally was able to get my hands on some berroco Ultra Alpaca and knit it up. It's DREAMY and i LOVE it. Now, time to knit some of my project goals ( <--- ). XO

[RAVELRY PROJECT LINK]

Another Halloween Photo

2011-11-04T07:26:00.001-07:00

#20: Dress Up for Halloween

2011-11-02T19:47:00.001-07:00

OK, I know I don't look like I"m in costume, but behind that poster I'm wearing my most butchy dress and a militant vest with my anti-censorship and feministy buttons on the lapel. I'm also not wearing make up like usual (only brown lipstick). We recently watched citizen ruth and it was awesome. Stewart (probably jokingly) suggested we go as a baby saver and pro-lifer. So, my costume didn't stand out, but it took some effort AND had lots of little details. (I also love this photo b/c I look k-razy!). XO

baby savers

2011-10-28T22:35:00.001-07:00

baby savers, originally uploaded by ohsweetie.

just the start of our costumes... a little bit of inspiration c/o CITIZEN RUTH

food !!

2011-10-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know HOME SWEET HOME (---->) is usually where I post all my food pics, but the time I've been away from the computer has meant that I've collected a bunch of food pictures that aren't really related to anything. So enjoy them! (so good to be back). (ps. the apple pie my friend made).

thank you victoria!

2011-10-15T19:31:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when a bunch of tired and/or sickish people have breakfast at mo:le. It's wonderful. I should've taken pictures of the food. because i miss the food. Home now to enjoy Saturday evening with House season 7 or Mannequin, I can't decide. Stewart's writing pop punk songs and seth is playing with a baby sized skateboard. Maybe I can lie down for a few minutes. I've been going to Victoria more and I love it a lot. I'm trying very hard not to job hunt there, and anticipate we'll be here a few more years, but there, it's pretty great. Always this back and forth with wanting to be in Victoria. Blah.

Hunting for Chantrelles

2011-10-13T23:08:00.001-07:00

On my dad's side of the family there's a handful of siblings. Enough siblings that we could honestly say that they had a big family. The older siblings all had kids within six years of each other. I was the first. And then the next year my cousin Jade was born. There weren't any other cousins for about four years, and even though JR grew up in Vancouver and I grew up in Terrace, there's more than us both being Virgos that holds us together. And it's awesome. Being here on the Island means that I'm a 35 minute drive from JR's mom's house (my aunt and uncle and other cousin live there on Beltane Farm). And I still don't get to see them as often as I want, and because JR is a chef/cook and works summers up Clayoquot and hopes to work winters on yachts owned by rich people, I only get to see her in between. Right now she's in limbo, which means I get to see her (more).

Last weekend, the family and I drove out to have brunch with them and ate a ramshackle of stuff from their fridge and ours. It was delicious. It was also pouring out, but we put on our rain gear (JR had more rain gear than me obviously) and headed off to wander the farm HOPING to find chantrelles (which are enjoying a bumper crop this year). Unfortunately, no chantrelles, but lots of other mushrooms, which was cool. We got disoriented, too, so much forest to walk through, but found our way back to the farm and the tomatoes that are finally ripening in the green house.

Next year I commit to picking chantrelles and drying them. Not just trading a supply for vegan coffee cake with great and generous friends!

HOME SWEET HOME Round up!

2011-10-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been here around much (I've been on Twitter lots!) and I've been blogging a bit over at home sweet home. Trying to keep it real. Here's a few of my favourite recent posts (by both me and Laura).

BUNTING TUTORIAL (LINK)

TOTAL AWESOMENESS BUTTON TUTORIAL (LINK)

PIEROGIES ALA THE SUGAR REFINERY (LINK)

A Couple of Recent FOs!

2011-10-12T13:38:00.003-07:00

Last weekend I took a class at my LYS, Let's Knit on thrummed mittens. I decided that because it was pretty warm climate wise in this community that I would make my little mister a pair of thrummed bed socks because those poly-blend ones don't do any justice in our house. I still need to make him some slippers, but these will do in the meantime. I knit the socks in just over one skein of the Diamond Luxury Cashmere Donegal (link) in the moss colour and it really looks like split pea soup. I love it. Here's a link to my ravelry project page.

This hat I made out of some Rasta that Jennie from Let's Knit gifted me for some reason or another.I had only had this yarn in my possession for a little bit of time, but I felt this urgent need to knit something out of it ASAP and get it out of my house. Maybe because the yarn was so pretty and I wanted to spend a bit of one-on-one time with it. Who knows. Anyway, I forayed into the world of the Brioche stitch to knit this hat. I tried with another hat and I just didn't get it. And, sadly, I was about five yards short, which was the saddest thing ever. Luckily, Jennie had a few yards left and I was able to finish it up. No way you'd ever get a hat out of one ball of rasta, which is disappointing. I didn't ever really like the hat (for me) and promptly donated it back to the LYS where it sits atop the shelves of yarn, in a row with all these other hats, hoping to encourage you to knit yourself a new head warmer for the winter. Here's a link to my ravelry page for this project.

Rifflandia IV

2011-09-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favourite shots from Rifflandia IV. What an incredible incredible way to spend a weekend. No child. Drinking all day. Going to lots of shows. Midnight meals at the Joint, dinner at noodle box, Pizza Primastrada in the morning in Royal Athletic Park, dancing my face off and getting contact high at Lance Herbstrong, and getting down with my boys De La Soul. Highlights of the weekend include running into Pete from Cave Singers outside the venue and talking about his show and how amazing they were and how he patted Stewart's back and held my elbow the whole time. Or watching J Mascis transition from acoustic to flat out electric with his old beat up acoustic guitar. Or the unexpected and overwhelming rain and wind storm to hit Royal Athletic Park on Sunday morning and sitting snuggled up on a couch under rugs and knitting to wait out the storm. VIP for LYFE !! I'm starting to go to Victoria as much as possible. I'm loving it there more and more. I see a move there in the next few years for sure.

uh oh, we're in trouble.

2011-09-19T21:56:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to make a concerted effort to do more slowing down. I'm really busy at work and just want my non-work to be as enjoyable as possible. I'm trying to be off of facebook more and back on twitter (because I like it more, mmhmm). And in general trying not to get lost in an internet loop. This week I didn't have a meal plan and felt a little "off". Tonight we had burgers, corn on the cob, and fried rice (yum!) and tomorrow it's my plan to just empty the vegetables out of the fridge because this weekend we're going to Victoria for Rifflandia!! Wahoo! I'm working on a super bulky brioche knit stitch hat and I'm having a hard time figuring out the decreases.. I screwed it up on the first go, so I'm knitting back and I hate it. We've also been watching a lot of The Big Bang Theory. And I've been knitting to it. Stewart just made a pot of tea (!!) and I'm going to try and figure this hat out. XO

yes

2011-09-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

"trying to picture going down...come on away from me"

2011-09-13T22:24:00.001-07:00

Life is so busy. Visiting in Victoria was so awesome. We need to get our butts together and move there by the time Seth starts primary school. It was stupid. I really wish I had brought my bike so we didn't have to be so car dependent and I could've kicked my ass a bit more. My family had the flu (puking! shitting! fun!) last week and it destroyed us. Stewart's has transitioned into a real cold. Stuffy sinuses. Sneezing. Coughing. No. Fun. Sick. Land.

My lovely sister bought me three of Isa's vegan cookbooks for my birthday! They're all amazing and I've got a number of things on our menu plan for this week coming up from Appetite for Reduction. I also got my hands on a few books at the Anarchist book fair (including a wild fermentation zine! home made kimchi here i come!).

This week I'm trying to carve out time to get to can some Salsa verde. I have everything here! Maybe I can do it over two days? I have so much going on! Isn't it always like that? Hm. Well, I'm going to go read my new book from my gal pal Amanda (Shelter!) And eat apple butter bars (cake) that I made for HOME SWEET HOME (recipe coming on Sunday!) XO

Wild Flag

2011-09-07T17:17:00.001-07:00

Wild Flag - Romance from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Best Unintentional Birthday Gift Ever!

29 before I'm 30...

2011-09-06T01:35:00.000-07:00

Today I turn 29. For me approaching 30 hasn't really been scary like I'm told by western culture/society whatever it's supposed to be. For me, 25 was a pretty monumental year and in the past few years I've gone back and forth and through and around being an "adult" and I'm 100% sure that transition is not over yet. And still, I don't see 30 as the final line that I'm an adult. I still have a long way to go.

Last year I made a 28before29 list (read it here) and really did a few of them, but some of them were so huge that they OVERTOOK MY LIFE and i had zero time to do the rest. It sucks. The biggest ones were pink hair, getting a full time job, and starting and doing Alberni Valley Roller Girls. I did some of the foodie ones too.

The few I accomplished last year made me think about how sometimes I have a lot of huge goals and in one year I can't do all of them. Having a baby and working full time and doing roller derby is time consuming enough for me (let alone leaving very little time for knitting).

Here's my list for this next year. I already accomplished one of them the day I wrote the list (sometime last week) and I was so proud! I tried to make them more achievable and less in conflict in each other, so we'll see!

29 before i'm 30.
1. go to hilo hawaii for leid on the track
2. get/build/mount a shelf for my tea pots
3. see Melissa
~~4. own 3 of isa's vegan cookbooks~~
5. print pizza face zine
6. prince george tattoos
7. get a raise
~~8. jump over a line with both feet (on skates)~~
9. pass WFTDA minimum skills
10. stay vegan until my bday 2012
11. ride to the market with seth in the trailer
12. pay off all credit cards and line of credit 0/5
13. paint our bedroom
14. finish my bday sweater
15. knit stewart's totoro hat
16. knit stewart's kreuger sweater
~~17. get a manicure18. tomahawk stop~~
19. can pickles
~~20. dress up for hallowe'en~~
21. only have caffeine/coffee/pop 1 x per month (max). 4/12
22. sew myself a piece of clothing
~~23. buy a pair of jeans that fit24. take seth to swimming lessons~~
~~25. finish reading PLAYER ONE~~
~~26. hold plank for one minute~~
27. buy another pair of flues (heels)
28. Do Fish.
29. Ombre hair

show

2011-09-03T19:11:00.001-07:00

The last few days... sister visit, vegan breakfast, nashville pussy in victoria, baby at the community garden. For rollerskating so much I sure have no pictures to show for it. XO

Fluewin!!

2011-08-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Got my shoes..love them so much!

summer's slowly drawing to a close

2011-08-20T23:19:00.001-07:00

today was so warm out compared to the rest of the summer and i'm half falling asleep. last week at derby i pushed myself the hardest i've ever pushed myself and kind of had another consciousness click about how much i want to skate and be a skater in derby. it's a toss up because i also want to run for the board but i'm not sure my life can sustain it... i guess the next few months will let me know. it's also sad to watch parts of my life fall of because of derby, but that's OK, derby's that important and awesome to me. in three years i want to be able to jam and be an amazing jammer. my goal in the meantime is to pass minimum skills in december so that i can be a full skater in our upcoming season (january to july): i'm fucking terrified.

fluefail

2011-08-16T00:04:00.002-07:00

i ordered fluevogs that i had been eyeing for MONTHS and they're too small. and i even upsized. so i sent them back. so sad. now i have a huge store credit and will wait until i'm in vancouver in october to actually try shoes on and get ones that fit!

keep putting it up...

2011-08-14T22:48:00.001-07:00

harvest is in full swing around here! I spent my weekend thrift shopping, going for lunch, napping, spending time with friends, picking blueberries and canning, canning, canning. I'll probably take some pictures and post my thrift finds on HOME SWEET HOME next Saturday.

My aunt and uncle own a farm out in Errington that has a huge blueberry patch. Last year, my first year on the Island, there weren't very many blueberries because it was so hot. This year it's been so cool we've / I've been complaining, but there are so many blueberries. It's pretty exciting. There weren't very many today, but in a week or so, if it's sunny there should be more! Finger's crossed for sun!

This coming week is a busy one with visits from my dad and my bff and her boyfriend. I've got lots more canning to do (cherries, apricots, cabbage) and am thinking about canning fish this year. I'd much rather have canned salmon over frozen salmon, you know? XO

gross, i know...sick, even.

2011-08-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

I was going through my Flickr trying to find pictures for HOME SWEET HOME and came across all these pictures of little seth. So I thought I'd just divulge myself for a few minutes. XO

"say something rude to me, rude to me, rude to me..."

2011-08-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

Because summer finally showed it's face last weekend we've been enjoying the sun and the summer times as much as possible. Eating outside, going to the water park, being outside in general, and lots of rest. Which also is including lots of knitting. Yip! Stewart's mum was here all week last week and it was sad to see her go back to the Interior. We're crossing our fingers that she gets a transfer to Nanaimo or something, because even Seth raised his arms and ran after her as she was leaving for one last cuddle.

three deer in our yard this morning. just before 8am.

making sweet and sour pickles for obon (and a late night pizza). the pickles taste like japan to me.

stewart and his mum at the train station in port alberni

summer dinner outside: handcut salsa, salmon, wine, and green rice. yum.

why my weekend was so awesome

2011-08-02T00:12:00.000-07:00

i have a wicked sunburn. a new vintage couch. and sand in every thing. it's glorious. i feel like summer is finally here. more soon!

yeah, summer's here (though it's spotty)

2011-07-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

I'm only semi sorry about the photo dump. I've definitely "checked out" of real life for a few days to enjoy this long weekend so have very little share except some pictures (there's more over at HOME SWEET HOME). I also blame the two Caesars I had. So good. Now I will bundle up my knitting, brush my chicklettes and climb into bed. Tomorrow's a big day of more putting up, getting ready for family brunch, roller derby workout, and going to Sustain-a-table. Will share more pictures tomorrow night. Right now: I need sleep.

summer? is it here?

2011-07-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

obviously the swimming in the lake, the sacrificing our not-so-virgin bodies to the god of summer has brought the heat down upon us. and it's G L O R I O U S ! ! this is probably the best weekend i've had in known memory. or at least since last summer. saturday morning equaled a sleep in, chores, farmer's market (blueberries! kale! dill! peas!), loonie toonie at the Friendship Center, a lot of knitting, a lot of playing outside, a long nap with my babe, women's liberation book club meeting, and an early morning (today) with lots more chores, farmers market II, breakfast out with some family, more knitting, more playing outside, getting sun tanned, cooking a huge vegan dinner (to celebrate my 7 day cleanse that i didn't suck too much at), and now a movie, more knitting, and a non-cleanse approved chocolate snack.

the cleanse. what a genius fucking idea. i mean, i didn't stick to it 100% especially past day four, but it's changed the way i eat fundamentally (or re-routed me to how i used to eat). i'm going to try and not go back on caffeine, minus green tea, and we're getting closer to a vegan/veg diet. and i'm looking forward to august's 14 days, and will try harder to stick to it. the best part was that i felt phenomenal, though was tired for the first 5 days or so. good stuff.

hormonal fog

2011-07-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

I do this thing where the week before my moon time I enter into a hormonal fog. I somehow managed to plan 3 events at our house in a row at the same time, as well as a Vegan Cleanse. And I'm still alive. Props! Here's some photos of what I've been up to. Too busy to even take pictures. It's ridiculous. It's also been super grey and cold here (summer?) so picture taking is ugly out. AND I've let my garden languish and fallen behind on my goals. I think right now my only goal is survival, catch up on True Blood, knit my sweaters, make it through this cleanse, and get to derby everything as often as possible.

we went swimming at cameron lake this week. we figured if summer wasn't here yet we'd sacrifice ourselves to bring it. (it didn't work).

god i need to exfoliate.

veggie dogs

breakfast on my cleanse.

FO: Rill Racoon Fox

2011-07-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

Our dear friend Patty bought me (and Seth) a book of knitted animal friends from the "other" side of the tracks. I told myself I'd knit one every year for Seth's birthday (whoa!) and was only almost 2 months late on the first year. yay! not a big fan of the seaming. or the embroidery afterwards. but i think it turned out OK? my first knitted toy ever! yay! (now on to cardigan knitting). ps. obviously i'm into knitting a lot lately. retreating a little from my life.

RAVELRY PROJECT LINK. LINK TO BOOK.

FO: Cold Summer Socks

2011-07-10T11:01:00.001-07:00

for my sister for her birthday (surprise!). ravelry project page here. so good to have these off the needles. now off to cardigan #4! (#3 is still in progress). XO

sometimes i want to kill my husband.

2011-07-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

but most of the time i don't. and then i'm reminded why i wanted to marry a 14 year old skateboarder who likes fat chicks. yesterday he introduced me to RVIVR. and i died.

they're on rumbletown records.

hey wait, you've been knocked off your feet

2011-07-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

the weekend isn't over yet, but it's been awesome so far. i love it. summer also feels like it has arrived. it's sunny out. even though all day yesterday i wore tights. a little chilly in the AM. this morning i'm hosting family breakfast. making roasted tomatoes, zucchini cakes, scrambled eggs, and breakfast sausages. toying with making scones. mmm scones.

last night le grrrls and i got together and drunkenly tried to make friendship bracelets. enough said. (ps. that rhubarb gin was amazeballs with santacruz gingerale).

on friday the AVRG skated in the canada day parade, and yesterday some gals and i went to nanaimo (with seth) to watch some bouts in the rookie tourney.

cooking pizza friday night

FO: Avalanche Safety Socks

2011-06-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

i have this terrible habit of knitting terribly ugly socks (1, 2, and 3). and then giving them away to men. good thing i married a guy who likes ugly socks (and who likes random punk rock). unfortunately, these socks are for my dad. a belated every holiday under the sun gift, if you will. he likes to ski and be outside and ride his bike and stuff. they're merino and super soft. and when he's stuck in an avalanche he can kick off his footwear and thrust these ugly ugly socks into the sky as a beacon for help. yay!

more unearthed drawings

2011-06-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

unearthed drawings

2011-06-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

i drew these in japan. inspired by brautigan.

summa!

2011-06-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

this is my official summer motto. pretty much. i probably wont down that many slurpees, but know that today i'm covered in dirt from playing outside with helvetica (and he just had to assert his independence and refuse help getting down the last stair and face planted on the gravel...babies!), i stink like fish from helping serve food to almost 500 attendees at Aboriginal Day today at work, and just am in general, sunned and sweaty! yaya!

K E G E L S

2011-06-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

my current refrain is that time passes and i miss it. i feel like i'm not accomplishing enough and that my laundry will never be caught up. i'm happy to report my life isn't drudgery and that last night i got a little tipsy on beer and today spent the morning preparing food for tonight's sustain-a-table and heading out to errington for breaky at my aunt and uncle's farm. my attempt to take a picture an hour yesterday was an utter FAIL.

yesterday i made rhubarb gin. excited to have it with ice and ginger ale. also, put a deposit on a cruiser/street hybrid bike. i think we're going to get on a wait list for a daycare closer to home and then bike to work more regularly and not spend so much $$ on gas :( i guess, though, if daycare is more expensive, then we won't really be saving money in the long run, but i'd be biking, getting more exercise, and reducing my dependence on oil. right?

i've bought some toms like a month back and i love them. my feet don't smell as bad in them (bare sweaty feet = gross) and they're SO comfy. i think they're my new "shoe", you know. still must get fluevogs. like these ones. or these ones. or even these ones.

yesterday seth was going crazy for rhubarb. like he goes crazy for raspberries. good times.

and this is the sockeye i cooked up today. it was incredible. so much of it in the fridge waiting to be mixed with mayonaise and green onions and spread on some kind of bread (or tortilla chip). yum.

and away the week went!

2011-06-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

i'm either pregnant, burnt out, or fending off a cold, b/c this week i was so exhausted, lethargic, unproductive, and lazy. is it just that some weeks i need to NOT DO ANYTHING? i hate it when people say that having kids "changes your life" all patronizing because YEP! it changed my life. but it's not a time suck. you know what the time suck is (even though i love it to death?): my job. fuck i hate working. BUT I LOVE MY JOB! let the existential crisis begin! bah!

so this week i wrapped some bacon around some corn. and froze rhubarb. and bought yarn for my 4/5 sweater (still working on 3! half way there!). tomorrow seth and i are going to hang out all day and i'm going to try and do a "my day in pictures"-thingy and take a picture every hour! i'll post it on monday or something b/c sunday's going to be B-U-S-Y!!

Tea Flowers

2011-06-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Kalinhop is here staying with us this weekend and it's been a BLAST. It's been so nice to have a bff come stay with us for a few days who's comfortable with helvetica and likes knitting and feels so much like home. She brought these teas and they're delicious. So cool watching the flowers pop up and out of the tea balls.

i give you someting you never even knew you missed.

2011-06-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

friends, pocket knife, break my heart everytime.

#25: get red tomatoes this year

2011-05-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

Still in progress!

peppers on the left, tomatoes on the right. i think that the paper cups are the best bet for my growing standards. the little toilet rolls need to be watered all the time, and they're molding. it's annoying.

not tomatoes, but gardening anyways! arugula and some lettuces. baby cilantros are sticking their little necks out too. must weed some more, pull all the arugula (it's already starting to bolt!! and i want to make LOTS of pesto..but i'll keep some arugula for seed). it's so good. in salad or whatever. yip!

thefuturethefuturethefuture

2011-05-25T00:19:00.001-07:00

cybernetic meadow

2011-05-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

first off, may has been absolutely busy and just a good wallop on the head. it seems like it was *just* easter and we were *just* in vancouver, but the busy-ness of work and roller derby have obviously conspired against me and BAM! here i am post-may long weekend and so few May 2011 posts to show for it. (i also blame my expired flickr, but that's neither here nor there). what i also don't understand is that i just dumped some pictures onto my computer and went back through my may/april photos and there isn't a single photo of us in vancouver. which means it's official: we have a toddler. and doing anything other than take care of him is exhausting. i have barely knit in forever and can't really use the computer when he's around. that being said, hanging out with him and cuddling in bed with him are the best. just the best. i'm not going to say something cliche like "this is what all the hard work is for"..because it's not. the hard work sucks regardless of the cuddles. but the dude. he's pretty fun! (and walking everywhere! and running too!)

this weekend we went with the ladies to miracle beach. it rained. and i slept (ie. cuddled with seth) a lot. but it was nice to get out of the valley (though i've done it so much lately). it was also great to be UNPLUGGED and not at work. oh yeeeaaaah.

the whole time i couldn't help myself from being so happy that we live on this island. i want to go camping again. once i get all the laundry washed and the camping stuff de-sanded!!

so full it's sick bleck i should just be vegan or something

2011-05-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

tonight my aunt made dinner for my mom and us (mother's day, my mom's birthday) and i don't know what it was (factory farmed beef?) but i feel super sick. actually, i blame all the chips we ate before hand waiting for the dinner to get to the table. yick.

what is it about KIDS and garlic bread? i don't really get it. i have to work harder at making sure seth doesn't grow up on carbs. bleck.

i'm so pooped from life. and it's only after a few hard days with seth that i go, where'd the days go? he's teething some molars and is just such a person suck. way more than usual (eg he wont go to bed on his own right now, must either sleep with us or cuddle to sleep = so draining). i've picked up some knitting again to just ease my mind a little bit. it's a little crazed. i really need to get my hands on some vega to give me a boost. i need it. xO

getting into all kinds of trouble.

2011-05-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

when i wrote that post for shameless i seriously fucking held myself back. i thought, "i should be eloquent, i should be somewhat polite, and i should be considerate of the complexities of it all". and then a few days later jill over at feministe posted about 'calling out' culture in feminism and has really gotten a shit tonne of comment responses (and she has even willingly engaged the commentors to smooth out some edges). and then Jess spoke up when she got back to the internet about the whole she-bang.

all this to say that i wanted to address some of the shit from the feministe post and to really get to the root of what i was talking about (b/c even with the incredible transformation shameless has undergone, i feel like i needed to couch my complaint a bit). Jill was great about identifying that this "wasn't about me" or the article in particular and i even emailed her to say thank you for pumping up the dialogue about it. we need to storm before we can norm. but i'm so fucking sick of using we and dont want to be part of feminism any more though i die for feminism over and over because i love you! but i'm not stupid enough (anymore) to say that the reason i didn't hear about something was because no one told me. that was the old me and i've pushed through that (and it was hard). it is MY responsibility as an image of the oppressor (even though i sure am fucking oppressed by patriarchy still) to open MY world enough to let shit in. and if my world isn't open enough that's my fault. MY FAULT.

the way that i always try to ground myself in my whiteness and take a good fucking look around is to say, "my friends are all white" (and most of them are). or where am i working? is everyone white? what am I doing to make myself examine my place as a white person in this white organization. how the fuck can i hold YOU accountable for being racist and exclusionary. it's not "how can i get meself some racial friends" but "what about me makes me EXCLUSIONARY of POC ?" not that having POC friends would all of a sudden make everything "OK" but that if I want to truly say that i'm "inclusive" I have to walk the talk. and that's what Jill was referring to, but her anger was misguided because you ain't know nothing about me!

i want to so badly respond to Jill's notion of "fill the fucking gaps" but i don't want to qualify the day-to-day grind i do engaging, challenging myself, and working for my community and being THE white kid at the meeting that when someone says, "we want aboriginal representation at our meeting" that they think that i'm their person b/c i work at the friendship center (and i'm not that person!). i always respond, "oh, that's nice? which NATION did you want representation from?" and you know what the answer is every time? "oh, it doesn't matter, anyone will do". NO any one won't do. As whities claim to our "racial heritage" when explaining our privilege and to make it look like we have some "depth" to our "background" (eg "i'm irish and scottish and english and porridge and mashed potatoes and other white shit"), then whities also have to allow "Native Americans" or "Aboriginal" people to have complexities in their cultural and political groups. We have THREE Nations within a bike ride of our house, educate yourself and make an informed decision!

last, this isn't about me doing it better, i think it's about me not seeing mainstream feminists (not jill in particular!) doing it at all. (and then making excuses when getting called out).

COME TO PORT ALBERNI ROLLER DERBY THIS WEEK!

2011-05-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

busy bee!

2011-05-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

yep!
that's it!
see HOME SWEET HOME for my busy-ness
and SHAMELESS for my other busy-ness
and DERBY for the rest of it
(and more!)

my kitchen counter on saturday

Making ricotta and foccaccia

Growing Tomatoes!

mmm, ricotta on foccaccia = SUCCESS!

my belly is full of $40 pasta

2011-04-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'm plowing through the Rebar pasta section of the cookbook. We've had two this week and are having one next week. I'm pretty sure I'm at the half way mark and there's a few that I have to make in the summer (for best ingredients). There's two problems with this 28before29 goal, the first that there's "ASIAN"-style pastas that I wouldn't put under pasta, but either salad or entrees. I understand that there's noodles so it's like a pasta, but it doesn't say "pasta" to me. And, I don't really like their "ASIAN"-COMBO pastas, or the idea of them. Blah. The other is that the ingredients, like much of the Rebar cookbok's recipes, are on the expensive side. Today I made the santa fe salad and it cost me almost $40. Sure, it was incredibly delicious, but not an every day (or every month!) thing, that's for sure.

Seth was still a little sick this week so most of the day I've spent wiping green boogers from his face. I also got my lettuce planted and my little growing pots full of soil (just need to plant the seeds) and will soak my beans tonight and put them in the box tomorrow. And then I'm done for a few weeks. Just watering. Then the fence and weeding and getting bean poles up; then it'll be time to transplant and more weeding and hopefully harvesting my baby arugula, basil, and cilantro for pesto for the freezer.

Tonight is our inaugural Women's Liberation Book Club meeting. We read the birth house and I just finished it. Literally, like 20 minutes ago. It was OK and not hard to get through, which is relieving. What are you doing this weekend?

nothing has made me this happy in a long time...

2011-04-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

SHIT HARPER DID DOT COM

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON MAY 2ND (unless you're against patriarchal parliamentary democracy then woop! "WHY PLAY THE WHITE MAN'S GAME")

i broke down and bought grapes...

2011-04-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Sure, it's not a knitted sweater, but I finally finished up my baby legwarmers, which is a pattern I'm including in my helvetica knits e.book v. 1. I'll probably post the pattern as "for free" on ravelry... and it's just being tested right now.

The derby meeting went great! We still need one more board member and at least two other major volunteers to assist the board, but it's going to be great! At this exact second I'm just passing the time between getting ready to go out for sustain-a-table and right now. Seth is still sleeping and I've just put together tomorrow's dinner and am just waiting for the side to finish. I really like menu planning and all of next week our meals are TEX MEX style. Tomorrow we're having vegan enchiladas with green rice and coleslaw; Tuesday we're having vegetarian tostada salad; Wednesday we're having quesadillas and tortilla soup; Thursday we're having a tex mex style rebar pasta; Friday we're having pizza verde (rebar); and saturday we're having santa fe pasta salad from the rebar cookbook. YES! We tend to eat a lot of mexican style food, but I've been relying on americana and other vegan stuff lately and the tex mex has been lacking. Which has been disappointing because we all really love it.

This weekend I got my sunflowers and nasturtiums planted, and also planted three tires of fingerling potatoes! I didn't get my little starts started (must do that!) but got some sewing done as well. Next week is the launch for Feminism for Real at Rhizome in Vancouver! Try to make it by if you can! Deets below. XO

Feminism FOR REAL Book Launch

Thursday, April 14, 7:00pm

Against a backdrop exposing a 500+ year legacy of colonization and oppression, Feminism FOR REAL is an anthology that explores what has led us to the existence of “feminism”, who gets to decide what it is, and why. With stories that make the walls of academia come tumbling down, it deals head-on with the conflicts of what feminism means in theory as opposed to real life, the frustrations of trying to relate to definitions of feminism that never fit no matter how much you try to change yourself to fit them, and the anger of changing a system while being in the system yourself. Join us for a discussion with editor Jessica Yee, a self-described “Two Spirit multi-racial Indigenous hip hop feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter”.

Free

working for the weekend

2011-04-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

i'm at work, it's lunch time and i'm going to try and work through my lunch. i'm mowing down on carrot sticks and port alberni radishes *yum!*. i didn't get my plants in the ground this week and anticipate putting seth in his bouncy chair, heading outside, and planting my tomatoes and peppers tomorrow. on saturday night i will soak the beans i have to plant and then plant them in the raised bed on sunday AM. i'm still so new to growing (year 2) that i'm giving myself lots of room to learn about what's happening and make mistakes, rather than get stressed out about soil ph, type of dirt, etc. it's like when i was learning to knit and didn't jump right into understanding how cables work (i still don't). i should also get my potatoes growing in their little tires and get the chicken wire up and running soon. oh, and the deer fence! jeez, having a garden is a lot of work (but so worth it).

this week has been a complete write off. seth was SO SICK and such a handful. one night at 3am he was bawling because he had a fever and we were going nuts, i was trying to get him into the bath to relax, cool down, and feel like he was having fun and i said to stewart, "can you imagine some people have babies who do this every night for months?" and we both shuddered. i couldn't imagine having to experience that. i definitely want more kid(s) around but there ain't no way in hell that they're going to be babies because i'm just not going to take the chance to deal with that. no thank you. (and a big woop to the parents who have had to deal with that: you amaze me).

the only other thing i've focused on this week has been roller derby. any extra seconds i've had have gone to developing our code of conduct or our policy manual. we have our first board meeting tonight at my house to give people work to do. i'm excited because we'll hopefully have full buy in from a total of 7 of us, which will make the work load that much easier and lighter on everyone. there is no way i could've taken on a league with a smaller board or even doing a bunch of the start up work and then pulling people in. someone else is going to organize the first meet up. someone else is going to take over the facebook group. someone else is going to make registration forms and membership databases and sort out the insurance. and the seven of us will have founded a derby league together. this is going to be amazing!

last but not least, i've been looking longingly at my list on the left and wanting to accomplish some things faster, you know? so many of those things are long process activities or i need something else to get them finished. a number of them, too, i know won't happen which is a little discouraging, but just a fact of life, i guess. next year i'll probably do a list with more little goals and i already have some in mind (like no eating out at a restaurant for 3 months and sew myself a piece of clothing every month or something like that)... but must focus on the list i have now! i'm going to order rennet this weekend to make the cheese, go this afternoon and get my birth certificate so i can submit my change of name forms when i get paid next, next week i'm cooking another pasta, and will probably get two or three more in by the end of the month.. you know. get on it?

have a great weekend! XO

oh where oh where

2011-04-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

did this week go? last weekend we went to the HOPS festival and it was so much fun! so much beer. so little time! the week went by super fast and i'm feeling a little zoned (well, a lot zoned) from my week at work...blaaaaaah. tomorrow is a busy day: seedy saturday, TREATY DAY PARTY!, and tutoring. i have to get a bunch of groceries shopped and food made to get us through next week, too! let alone get my garden all planted and stuff. hahahaha. EEPS!

despite working full time all week and being pooped I really really LOVE my job and the place i work and the work i get to do for our community! it's like i won the lottery.

oh, and roller derby is GO!!!! if you live in port alberni and you read this and you want to play roller derby just comment and i'll get a hold of you!

XO

standing in the way of control we'll live our lives....

2011-03-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

i feel like today is one of those days that i've let get away from me. it's almost 5pm and seth hasn't had his afternoon nap (and not because we didn't try, blaaaaaah!). i also haven't really started dinner (i precooked the beans) and the laundry's piled up. i did get a load of dishes going, go out for sushi with seth, and move some plants/clean the living room window. so i compensate with pictures as sethmeister is finally getting whiny enough for sleep and maybe he'll actually go to sleep this time.

i got my malabrigo in the mail from eat.sleep.knit finally! i'm going to use them to make three versions of the shawl i designed for the final pattern pictures, etc. probably will be released in the summer, just in time for it's intended season of wear.

right now he's clinging onto my tights whining to go to bed. finally! it's taken about 3 hours to get to this point. bleck.

this turned out blurry! i took 8,000 pictures trying to get a good one of my new hair and my new scarf from Amanda which she got at Preloved in montreal> SO HIP IT HURTS. but alas the photo sucks for both.

okay, that baby has wandered off and i think i need a nap too. looks like we'll be having cheese squares and cheerios for dinner (well not me b/c i'm not really eating dairy right now).

the past few days...

2011-03-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

have been jam packed and awesome because my sister is here! yay! we've watched scott pilgrim (again, yes) and hung out with sethmeister and gone swimming and cooked and crafted a lot. tomorrow i'm going to get her to pose with her embroideries that she's done and maybe get her to pose for a new knitting pattern that i'll hopefully launch tomorrow on HOME SWEET HOME. i've also been trying to cut down on my internet use, but all the cooking/hanging means i'm still behind on chores (oh laundry!) and am just exhausted. so to bed/reading i go!

double stripes!!!! i will be giving away one of these jersey scarfs at home sweet home sometime this week! (and telling you how to make your own!)

the last picture of my pink hair before i dyed it brown. and i love it brown! now, to cut it better!!

custom belt tutorial over at home sweet home! check it out!

"make no mistake"

2011-03-13T18:52:00.001-07:00

i can't believe it's almost 7pm on Sunday! I'm heading to pick Stew-dog up from work in about 5 minutes and we're going to sit down and eat the wonderful above (with miso soup!) and probably watch a movie (Going the Distance?), cuddle with helvetica, and eat the last of my brown rice ice cream. YUMs. rainy days are awesome.

this weekend went by pretty fast. my cold cleared up. i've been knitting non-stop. our house was/is still a disaster (I think we're settling into life with a child really well as stewart doesn't make as much of a mess as he could and i just deal with the disaster). the earthquake in japan has struck a chord with me much more than the one in christchurch. on thursday night on twitter about 20 minutes after the quake someone in my list tweet'd about it. and then i checked it out and news hadn't really begun to roll in. i emailed a friend who lives back in akayu and she said it was crazy and so huge and she was OK. this was all before the nuclear reactor and the whole tsunami aftermath started to show up on the news. i had been to sendai a few times and it's just crazy to think of that whole portion of the east coast devestated. i'm so curious to know what we would do if that happened here and also very aware of how underprepared we are/i am.

totally unrelated:

stewart made me a girl power cd a month or so ago and it had super wild horses on it. i'm kind of in love with them. and want their hair.

sick day

2011-03-08T16:30:00.001-08:00

i find sick days hard to handle: what? do NOTHING? ha! and my sick days are never days full of nothing, but they are scaled back. and i still feel like poop. today my "sick day" included finding out i got a full-time four year job here in port alberni ! WOO! while it's not with the provincial government i'll chalk it up to almost the same as it pays more than a job in "women's" work would pay (though not by much), is a "big job", and is important to myself and my community: SCORE! on top of that i got just over 2 hours of work done on my other job (though not enough, i just didn't have it in me), and worked on a custom craft tutorial for HOME SWEET HOME. which'll be posted next week. today it was also decided that our toronto trip isn't going to happen, and my portland trip may or may not happen, BUT girl is most likely coming to visit this summer, and a few days with the family in vancouver is in the cards. yes! i'll also have to get my hair back to normal and am on the hunt for a hip, sexy haircut (in brown). ok, off to get seth and then stewart is making us quesadillas for dinner. OH! and i'm off dairy, except for our friday night pizzas: let's give this one another try! XO

PS happy international women's day! read this, and this.

"and the leg bone is connected to the one in the thigh"

2011-03-07T21:14:00.002-08:00

seth and i spent a whirlwind 24 hours between here and victoria and got to see my sis and my papa. it was good times though i was sick as a dog and so cranky, exhausted, and impatient. i was also sad/pissed that i had no money to buy yarn or seeds b/c my work forgot to print me a paycheck. thanks guys!

since christmas i've had ups and downs of being motivated and not being motivated/in a slump/depressed. i blame a mix of working more/at all and just a general malaise, but it has felt exacerbated these past two weeks and then getting sick (we were all sick) just sunk the ship on that one. i'm going to make more lists. start getting excited about more projects. and just doing more things. seth is slowly starting to sleep better and having even one night away from stewart made me not want to get rid of him so quick (oh marriage!) and it's been nice and cuddly and just chill. i'm denying my expectations of myself re: the state of our house and only doing what is necessary. i'm also working at putting the computer down. so this ends here as i'll put the computer down and knit and watch the goonies ~~listen to my audiobook~~ and go to sleeeep! XO

#15: be the letter of the day on Q

2011-03-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

Go here. Listen to March 4th's episode around 27:10 and you'll hear my email read out (even though jian butchers my name a little). It wasn't the "letter of the day" but I count it b/c I didn't realize how hard it was to get my letter on the show at all! YIP!

This is excellent news and inspiring b/c i'm having a pooopy day.

#12: dye my hair like ramona flowers

2011-03-03T12:36:00.001-08:00

i just found this in an old email signature of mine...

2011-03-02T21:48:00.001-08:00

My website from Japan!
i had this blog and that angelfire and some other site. i can't even remember what it was called. ahaha. and friendster. life before facebook. the site was last updated before i quit my job and became a couch surfer and backed out of the art show i was so excited about in anacortes. alas.

HOME SWEET HOME!!

2011-03-01T13:02:00.001-08:00

A project that I've been working on with Laura for the past six months is finally coming to fruition: Home Sweet Home!
Home Sweet Home is a DIY, craft, how-to blog that is centred around the idea of Home. Home in your kitchen. Home in your craft. and Home in your community! We'll be featuring house tours and interviews with our favourite bloggers, crafters, cooks, and sewers, as well as recipes, DIYs, essays, etc.

Add us to your blogroll and keep in touch!

Also, most ohsweetie Home Sweet Home content will get moved over to HSH, thus returning ohsweetie back to it's self-obsessed narcissistic beginnings. Let the pining begin bitchez.

XO

getting used to getting up early again

2011-02-28T06:51:00.000-08:00

i was up late last night helping jeremy with his thesis and doing some work. i think i fell asleep around 12:30am, though i know i slept with my laptop open and my head on the keyboard a few times. seth's been having TERRIBLE overnight sleeps. and i just have no knowledge around what to do. most of the books i've seen or resources in general are centred around getting your baby to fall asleep OR are cry-it-out options which i dont think i'm down with. that crying baby hurts my heart. and then there's been earlier mornings. it just sucks.

i woke up this morning to nice fluffy snow on everything. i didn't even see it snow in action so that's always a nice surprise. today i'll probably stay inside most of the day, do work, drink coffeeeeeee, cuddle with my family. i'm going to make tortilla soup for dinner (never made it). and maybe i'll get my hair set up tonight to dye it fuschia. XO

GIVEAWAY WINNER (and hair update)

2011-02-27T00:04:00.000-08:00

Congrats atomiquelle!! You are the giveaway winner! Thank you to everyone that entered and the numbers are skewed because of a double comment but I renumbered them before I did the generator. Anyway, if you didn't win but would still like to get your hands on Feminism FOR REAL you can order one from the CCPA.

In other news I've started the process of dying my hair like Ramona Flowers. When I ordered the dye I did so under recommendation from Kaylah's posts at Dainty Squid (here and here) and ordered some manic panic in two colours, cotton candy and fuschia. I also ordered a beyond the zone bleach kit and I left it on for 45 minutes and it came out super yellow, but i liked it. I just spent the last 1/2 hour covering it with the cotton candy and getting it under a plastic bag and secured on my head. Now I'm going to sleep with it on and rinse it out the AM. I'll probably go pale pink/yellow for a few days/this whole week, and then go to the fuschia. If it turns out I got this job my start date would be the 17th of March? So, I'd have to dye it back to brown the Sunday night before (b/c it's a real adult job). If i dont get it, i might go light pink for as long as i can and then go fuschia. We'll see. The pictures below are of me pinning my hair up and looking 90s, the yellow, the pink on yellow, and my hair cover. Now, to SLEEP i go! I offered to host sustain-a-table again tomorrow night and am going to make a feast similar to one found at the foundation: lower east side, nachos, and sugar pie. XO

"the world is full of good intentions, paradise is hard to find"

2011-02-24T22:09:00.000-08:00

i've been kind of in a funk for the past few days. i feel so tired, like the months of sleep deprivation have hit me and that the pulling of the left side of my neck is really starting to take its toll. i'm tense. and it sucks. i really feel like i need a few days to myself. the last few days have been busy and perhaps life changing ( i had a job interview today that while isn't with the provincial government would effectively cross that goal off ). and i'm just tired. i kind of want a shopping spree. or even to go to this ........

today is probably my last day as a person with brown hair for a few days or weeks. i got my hairdye to go all ramona flowers but then got in the process of applying for this job and maybe having an interview to having an interview so i left it as au natural. and then i was going to dye it tonight and realized i didnt have gloves bleck.

i guess i'm feeling defeated. by what i'm not sure. so i'm going to take a tylenol for this neck pain drink lots of water and go to bed. tomorrow will be a better day. XO

Squash Tempura

2011-02-23T21:46:00.002-08:00

Tempura here in Canada/BC whatever is just so boring and gross. Our local sushi restaurant does a slice of yam, a slice of potato, and a slice of eggplant: BORING. Even at other sushi/japanese restaurants I've been to since being back from japan the tempura is always prawn heavy (b/c us north americans love our meat!) and is just yam or zucchini or eggplant probably because north americans don't like "weird" vegetables (and i guess if you're running a restaurant you dont want to take any risks).

The tempura I had in Japan (even the kind from the grocery store's deli) was always Amazing. I remember this one place in my community that made fresh soba noodles, that we ate cold with a wasabi and shoyu bath. and it came with fresh tempura, so light and crispy! and with local vegetables (never meat). there would be heavy greens (like kale), and mushrooms, and taranome, and the littlest japanese eggplants, and thin slices of kabocha squash with the skin still on. those were my favourite.

When we hosted sustain-a-table the other week and served japanese food, one of the things I made sure to serve was squash tempura. I had a massive hubbard that i sliced into thin (2-3mm) slices and coated in boxed tempura (i was being lazy b/c i was in a rush and didn't want it to screw up, but i've made it from scratch and it's just as good!). then i deep fried it. pretty simple. i fried them until they were golden. we ate them hot with a veg shoyu mix. to die for.

pumpkin pie tarts

2011-02-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

!! Squash !! month is wrapping up and i have a handful of posts i haven't posted yet. way back at the beginning of the month i made these pumpkin tarts b/c i had made a 1 1/2 batch of the moosewood no-fault pumpkin pie recipe (i used rice milk instead of evaporated milk and baked it longer). because i only have one pie plate i folded squares of pastry i rolled out into a muffin tin and filled those right up. i much preferred the tarts over the pie (probably because by the time i got to the pie i was SO full and SO sick of pumpkin pie! haha) and ate the last bit of this tart with some marshmallow cream stewart had bought a few months back. it was so good.

can i also say that the plate in the pictures is a relic leftover from my life in japan? i bought it for 100y at a 100y shop back in 2004 and brought it the whole way home. i have a few of them, actually. i know i say this often, but i miss japan every single day.XO

Some news and a Giveaway!

2011-02-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

An essay I wrote is being published in a new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives book edited by Jessica Yee-- Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the academic industrial complex of feminism. (Book info link here)

And, to celebrate I'm going to be giving a copy of the book away! All you have to do is leave a comment with a way for me to get a hold of you! The giveaway will end this Friday the 25th at 10PM PST and I'll pick from the random number generator thingy.

Book Description:

Against a backdrop exposing a 500+ year legacy of colonization and oppression, Feminism FOR REAL explores what has led us to the existence of 'feminism', who gets to decide what it is, and why. It provides thoughtful, honest and unapologetic insight into how different communities; including Indigenous and women of colour, sex workers, disABLEd, queer, Two-Spirited and trans youth define and relate to feminism; what it means to them -- and more importantly, what it doesn't mean.

In the words of editor Jessica Yee, this is not a hate-on of feminism or of academia. It is about truth-telling. And, as explained in the introduction, in the process of uncovering truths, facing them head-on and seeing where they lead us, we can redefine feminism beyond a first, second, or third wave policed by academic institutions so that it becomes about truly cross-cultural human movements that are about real justice - and doesn't end up reinforcing the very forms of oppression it claims to confront.

Jessica Yee is a self-described "Two-Spirit multi-racial Indigenous hip hop feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter". She is the founder and Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network (the only organization of its kind in North America) that works within the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health by and for Indigenous youth across the continent.

Click here to pre-order your copy of Feminism FOR REAL.

Join the discussion and follow along as the book launches across Canada on the Feminism FOR REAL Facebook page.

In Toronto on Feb. 25? Then don't miss the Feminism FOR REAL national book launch.

Join us on Friday February 25th at the Toronto Women's Bookstore to celebrate the official book launch of "Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism" edited by Jessica Yee.
Where: Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord Street, Toronto
When: Friday February 25th, 7pm to 9pm
Main area is wheelchair accessible. We regret that the washroom is not wheelchair accessible.
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191238847561961#!/event.php?eid=191238847561961

With an opening address from Lee Maracle, drumming by Shandra Spears-Bombay and rattle dance by DJ Danforth, this event will feature spoken word performances and round table discussions from the book contributors, followed by a screening of "The Road Forward", dedicated to the countless First Nations women who have "disappeared" on British Columbia's "Highway of Tears". More information about "The Road Forward" can be found here: http://www.reddiva.ca/?p=557

Proceeds from the evening will go to a scholarship fund created for the children of missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

For more information please contact Erika Shaker at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives at erikas@policyalternatives.ca

To pre-order your copy of the book, visit http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/ourschools-ourselves/feminism-real

Sweater 2/5

2011-02-20T16:32:00.002-08:00

Yes baby sweaters count. And this one was a doozy for some reason. I felt like it should've been quick considering how big my gauge was and how easy and garter-stitchy the pattern was, but it was honestly the death of me. i hated it most of the time. hated. it. and i ran out of yarn! so surprised! anyway, it's a cutie, the babe that is. in his winter jacket. good thing i knit it in time for winter to be 1/2 over. the pattern is SNUG by hinke and i couldn't find a non-ravelry link for it. sorry!

there's a whole tonne of mods i did which included holding two strands of what i think was patons classic wool (i got it in a mill ends bag) so i have NO IDEA how much yardage i used, but i know i used a lot. (maybe 4-5 skeins if you were to buy it). i ended up having to use the white bernat alpaca stuff just to finish. i also went up a few needle sizes and added two inches to the back length. which meant i added that to the front, except i only knit the front until the edges were about touching b/c i was seriously running out of yarn at that point. i also knit the arms in garter stitch back and forth rather than in the round (b/c i kind of hate purling). the crochet chain i did the whole way around the front and did 5 button loops. i love the big buttons. anyway, the rest of it i followed the pattern exactly.

now i'm onto sweater #3, my CULTS sweater, made from the common ground pattern from the brown stitch (and in bernat softee chunky in RED). man, i need access to a yarn store in this town.

the ukes!

2011-02-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

tonight we went to the united church for a canada world youth community dinner/fundraiser for the Tsawalk Partnership/West Coast Aquatic. WCA works with/under Tsawalk to work in partnership with/as community to do research and grassroots mobilization around environmental and cultural stewardship and coastal waters. Very cool. The dinner was a Ukranian-themed dinner (apple pierogies, cabbage rolls, beet root salad, borscht, that kind of stuff) and the food was OK but it was nice to be around a couple hundred people and food (and friends!).

It got me briefly thinking about Canada World Youth and "culture" esp. because one of the speakers said something about how the dinner gets us to learn more about "other cultures" (um, when everyone i was with including myself has some sort of ukranian background?) and having CWY in our community also brings us exposure. It's cool that kids from other countries come to Port to volunteer and learn about our community and share with us their lives and experiences, etc. What I think is interesting about CWY is the construction of cultural identity for these teenagers. They wore "traditional" outfits and danced "traditional" songs and sang "traditional" songs (and some pop songs too), and made us "traditional food", but were wearing skinny jeans and had facial piercings. It was amazing. I'm curious to know how much of CWY "focusing" on their "ukranian" culture actually negates their own specific experiences of culture, the culture they create, etc. Kind of a cultural diaspora. HM.

Tomorrow farmer's market, arroxvale farm market, and seedy saturday. YIP!

spicy acorn squash soup with roasted garlic (and cheezy corn bread!)

2011-02-17T20:47:00.001-08:00

MMM, now this was a good dinner. You can google the internets to find the cornbread recipe from Moosewood, so here's where you should go to see it. (i nixed the onion and had 2 cups of corn and cooked it for 35 minutes).

And, I didn't write down a recipe for this soup. So, if you're a seasoned cook basic instruction is: roast a whole acorn squash and four heads of garlic. over med heat fry 1 onion, chopped, and 6 garlic cloves, minced, in some olive oil. once a little golden, add a handful of fresh chopped sage, a tablespoon of dried oregano, 1 tsp of dried pepper, and either 1 tsp of dried red chili flakes or 1 hot dried pepper chopped up! combine and let cook for a few minutes. add the flesh from the squash and the flesh from the garlic and mash mash mash in the soup pot. add heated soup stock to cover vegetables (or more if you like). cook thoroughly and serve with sour cream if you want...but make sure it's with lots of this YUMMY corn bread. XO

best walk of life

2011-02-16T20:57:00.001-08:00

Did you watch the Proenza Schouler live runway show? I didn't get to b/c i had errands to run and babies to pick up. But, I'm watching now and here's my favourite shots (from vogue's live photo wall thingy)!

i love the shiny aqua/teal velvet and the zigzags. i feel like this entire collection secretly inspired by MIA from her galang galang days.

so ARULAR and mish-mash guatemalan exports. i probably wont incorporate any of this into my wardrobe though

now, this i wont incorporate either, but i'm loving the resurgence of pattern on pattern. finethankyou... called this one the other day when he emailed me that mishmash of cosby sweaters ahaha.

the statement necklace has been big for the past few years and i like this one. faux fur let's hope and CLAWS so tough and witchy and bitchy i love it.

Now, Marc by marc jacobs also showed up yesterday and I'm finally getting to look at the photos and i want so much of it and i die. i just die! i want one of everything and want to sew all my friends replicas. the shine! the tweed! the shoes! the ankle socks! the bags! the velvet jackets! YEEPS!

there was a nice predominance of "fall" colours in this collection. so 70s. that sweater, just great. with that big cable. gush.

camel hair sweater? derek, make this for yourself. Me? I want the laptop bag.

I like these higher waist hunting/woodland animal themed printed skirts. they look so silky and soft.

cropped jackets in marc. cropped sweaters. cropped cropped cropped. the waist has moved up.

velvet jackets. yes.

i want this dress, or something like it, like nobody's business. i think i'll have to make one, somehow.

fashion week!

2011-02-15T22:02:00.000-08:00

i blame getting my hands on my grandma's old clothes, and the re-inspiration to start putting outfits together, but in the last few weeks i've been revisiting my love of clothes and sewing and fashion. it's not like it has ever gone away, it's just re-kindled? re- re- re- re- re-! here's some of my favourites!

marc jacobs. i think i'm going to try and make myself that skirt or similar, but shorter. oooh, and polka dot tights! need.

i love this sweater from badgley mischka. i might try and reconstruct it using plastic/acrylic yarn and massive sequins....

OMG sweater. (Rodarte)

love this super open black hoodie (and all the black) - RAD by Rad Hourani

I love this dress from Zero + Maria Cornejo. i might rework it into a tunic t-shirt.

and like always i die for betsey johnson (though i'm still waiting for marc by mj and proenza schouler).

happy vagina day!

2011-02-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

today was pretty much amazing. stewart went to vancouver yesterday to see cradle of filth and i'm almost at 36 hours alone with the babe (who had the worst sleep ever last night bleck) and am working really hard to not go crazy. so i pretty much took a third weekend day off and hung out with s. all day. we got out of the house and went for a visit and rented a movie (that we're probably going to watch right quick). i also found out my bff had her baby (a girl!!). and i've really enjoyed following all of this arcade fire winning the grammy fun! (and here). (cbc news story here). (youtube clip here of their performance). them winning has totally made me cry a few times over the past day. so exciting! go indie rock!

XO

The last few days...in pictures...

2011-02-13T09:38:00.001-08:00

Seed Saving Squash Edition

2011-02-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

From getinthegarden.com

Seed saving. This is something I've never actually done outside of trying to sprout an avocado pitt in a cup of water balancing on some toothpicks. I'm not even sure of the ins and outs, other than that you gut your vegetable and clean your seeds, dry them from the moisture, and put them away (labeled) in a paper envelope or something and out of the sunlight.

But, to me it doesn't seem that easy.

First, there's cross pollination to worry about. Sure, they squashes may not have cross pollinated with other vegetable families (no eggplant-butternut cyborg hybrids around here!), but they can cross-pollinate with each other. Which means that you can get an mixed squash rather than a "pure breed".

This is what the Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada (on Saltspring) have to say about cross polination:

Squash and Pumpkins

Squash and pumpkins are also pollinated by bees. The four different species of squash and pumpkins won't cross species or cross with cucumbers and melons. Cucurbita pepo includes all common summer squashes, all acorn types, the orange pumpkin types, Delicata, Lady Godiva and Spaghetti. Cucurbita maxima includes Buttercup, Hubbard, Delicious, Banana and Hokkaido. Cucurbita moschata includes Butternut and Cheese types. Cucurbita mixta includes the Cushaw squashes. All will cross with their own species members.

Fastening paper bags over the female flowers, then dabbing pollen from male flowers onto the female, and closing the bag again until the chance of cross-pollination is over, ensures genetic integrity. For starters, grow a representative of one or more species each growing season.

The other thing I'm concerned about is using seeds from vegetables at the store. Food at the grocery store wasn't really grown here. Sure the seed from a squash in Mexico may be grown here, but how much of that seed has been altered by GMOs? And, if that seed ever cross pollinated with a Monsanto seed, will I one day become liable for payback to Monsanto because of a reckless butternut seed? (Food Inc., the movie, is a good accessible source for this argument, though obviously "biased". There's also a tonne of books on the same or similar subjects. Getting locally (10mile is probably best) grown squash, preferably organic, is the best way to go. It means that the immunities and environmental uniqueness of your region and the air/pollen you breathe will be in your squash.

I'm also concerned about if I'm using the right type of seeds. The general rule is to not use hybrid seeds, but if I'm using seeds from the hubbard from my neighbourhood farm, how do I know if they've used a hybrid seed or not? Hybrid seeds are best explained by this site:

F1 hybrids are the first generation seeds/plants resulting from a cross mating of distinctly different parental types, the offspring of which produce a new, uniform seed variety with specific characteristics from both parents. Crossing specific parent plants produces a hybrid seed (plant) by means of controlled pollination. To produce consistent F1 hybrids, the original cross must be repeated each season. As in the original cross, this is done through controlled hand-pollination, and explains why F1-seeds are so expensive.

Heirloom seeds are considered "better" for seed saving because then you get a product that is true to type (ie. a butternut that grows as a butternut, not a hubbard. But, using hybrid seeds isn't the end of the world because you'll get surprise produce, which is always fun! I mean, I'm not getting into gardening for regularity, as I can just by that from the store.

I've started harvesting some of my squash seed, and need to get better at it. Now that I know they'll probably all sprout I could have an interesting squash and pumpkin garden!

Here are some pretty solid directions on how to harvest your seed from the Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada (on Saltspring):

Summer squash must be left on the vine about eight weeks past its normal harvesting date until the skin becomes as hard as that of winter squash. All squash and pumpkin seed will gain vigor if allowed to ripen longer in the fruit. Removing and storing them can wait for a month or two. They may be left past the first fall frost.

Cut the fruit of the mature pumpkin or squash in half. Remove the seeds and moist material around them with a large spoon, place it all in a large bowl, add some water and work the mixture through the fingers. The seeds will separate gradually. Wash them again and spread them out on wax paper or screens to dry for a week or more, moving them about daily so they don't remain in small wet piles. Cull out any flat seeds: only the plump ones are viable.

If kept in a sealed jar, check them after a few weeks to see if there is any sign of moisture. If so, take them out for additional drying.

And lastly, a few youtube videos (because how can we do anything without guidance of one of these! ha!). Oh and sorry if you have to watch Mormon.org ads !! they're so weird.

korma from a can with pumpkin, pork, leeks, and applesauce

2011-02-12T20:54:00.001-08:00

before the korma was added. i got too distracted by eating this i forgot to take a finished picture.

korma from a can with pumpkin, pork, leeks, and applesauce

Ingredients:

250 grams pork loin tip / pork chop, cut into 1cm square pieces
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 c pumpkin cubles (1cm squared)
3 medium leeks, white parts only, split lengthwise and cut into thin half moon slices
2 mushrooms, diced
1/2 c cauliflower, diced
3 cloves garlic, coarsley chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 c canned korma sauce (or homemade)
1/2 c apple sauce
1/4 c water

In skillet over medium heat, heat oil and fry pork and salt until browned (but not cooked through). Add all veggies and cumin. Cook until pumpkin is soft-ish. If sticking/burning add a bit of water to steam it out. Add korma, apple sauce, and water: stir well, reduce heat and let cook through. Serve with brown rice (yum!). Note: this wasn't made too spicy because I ate it with Helvetica. But, to make it spicy just add one chopped dried chilli when you fry the pork. YOWZAS! (or sriracha). XO

spicy pumpkin and chocolate chip cake

2011-02-09T15:34:00.001-08:00

spicy pumpkin & chocolate chip cake

this is an almost-exact copy of the recipe from everbody likes sandwiches. check the original recipe out here!

i changed it to 2 cups of flour. i used brown sugar instead of white. i also used real yoghurt instead of vegan (b/c that's what i had). and rice milk instead of soy milk. and used 1 1/2 cups of boiled pumpkin that i mashed into the bowl. and i didn't have pecans.

that being said this was one of the most delicious things i've ever baked and i devoured so much of the cake so fast i had to give half of it away. this was a picture of it on it's way out the door.

"i wish they was mine"

2011-02-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

last summer i met some cool people from here and from afar that moved here and it was decided we would start a weekly food-based eating event at each other's houses and we'd take turns and there were a few families that were interested and that we'd call it sustain-a-table. on weeks when i work all week with my contracting and then work on top of that with my knitwear designing and then work on top of that with something else or go to a meeting or am doing something else for someone or whatever and i honestly dont see anyone but the folks at starbucks, my baby, my husband, my mom, or my daycare provider, which seems like a lot of people, but it's not. and then friday comes and i get to knit (!!) and then i'm just ramped up because on Sunday (sunday!) i get to see my sustain-a-table family and eat food at someone's house or cook my ass off for them (and love every minute of it). if you've known me at any time in my adult life then you know that i will cook for you and your family and love doing it. i will perhaps even force you to come over. epic food cooking pasts have included the cabbage roll dinner at our crack-duplex on vine in PG

the north-american sushi night i hosted at my flat when i lived in akayu

or the wine tasting party, or even that v-day dinner i cooked the lovelies when i lived in burnaby on capital hill in 2003 or 2004. with the heart shaped roasted beet salad? yep, that was good.

anyway, sustain-a-table is the perfect answer for my constant need and desire to cook you food. i really like doing a theme meal, cooking way more dishes than seems possible, and spending my whole weekend putting it together. it's also my way of thanking the other lovelies/families for feeding me for the past 4-6 weeks: i appreciate the "day off" more than you can imagine.

last night was no exception, of course! we hosted a small handful of adults and kids (maybe 12 all together? small compared to the 20 at hanukkah) and i made a series of rural-style japanese dishes including a roasted sesame and tofu broccoli salad, a miso dressing'd braised cabbage, teriyaki tofu, and tempura (even with squash!). yum!

i wanted to share this with you because i wanted to impart the importance of communal or community eating upon you. if you don't once a week eat at someone else's house or have someone outside of your immediate family eat at your house that same week you must do it. it's as simple as finding another person you dont normally have a hang out routine with or a new person and say, "let me cook you dinner". and the best part is that they always reciprocate. be sure to remind them of an instituted NO PRESSURE approach. all you're doing is making a few more servings of something you make all the time to start and then you can work up to multiple dishes you've never tried (trust me you'll want to!) i am always searching for food/cooking inspiration and am a dedicated cookbook aisle of my local library reader: i just randomly grab books and cook from them, even just one recipe.

anyway, the point is you too can start your own sustain-a-table! a half year in we've also got two new book clubs starting and a farmer's market table (amongst girls night out!). it's been an incredible way to build a community here and to develop strong relationships with amazing educated forward thinking and creative, crafty, passionate families. !! go forth !! have fun !! (or even just move here and you can join ours, wink wink). XO

Free Vintage Valentine's Download!

2011-02-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like the perfect thrift score. The kind that when you happen upon the best thing you were never looking for (but always in the back of your mind hoping you'd be lucky enough to find), the skies open up, you pull out your fifty cents (!!), and you take home your find, and covet it, and never ever use it. Ever.

That's the case of these valentines. I found them at a thrift store in Prince George about five years ago. They're in their original plastic bag, with the 50c tag on them. Unused. In pristine condition. Waiting for "the day" I deem them usable. Which, will be never. Because they're such a find.

I thought that someone should get some use of them. And that is why I've scanned them and made them available to you (and I'll hopefully print some out and use them myself!).

Download the PDF here!

Happy valentine's (soon)!

XO ohsweetie

when you're hiding underground, the rain can't get you wet

2011-02-03T20:28:00.001-08:00

i'm not going to say i'm too cool to listen to arcade fire on repeat. i love it. their re-nomination for a slew of grammy awards reminds me that they never were an indie band, or an indie band that "got big". in these parts they were always big. i kind of think of them as the U2 of our generation. anthemic, hip, to the point, copy-cat pop rock tracks. hip hair, good outfits, montreal postal codes, you name it. anyway, just obsessed with the suburbs. but, we recently go the new decemberists which was great.

the last ten days have been pretty crazy. in that we were all kind of sick, seth and stew the most, and i just fell really behind on work so have been playing catch up in every extra minute of every day since last week. it hasn't been fun. it's been kind of soul sucking actually.

on the weekend i got to go out for a little bit sans baby to hang out with some amazing girls and dudes at stewart's bday party and have a club soda and bombay. it was so refreshing to get out of the house! get away from my child! do something i haven't done (go to a bar/pub) since before i gave birth. going retail shopping on my own is also so gratifying without child; but i dont think i've done that many times.

i ordered the pink hairdye for my ramona flowers hair and it should be here in two to three weeks b/c the bleach has to be shipped via ground. i got two shades of pink: cotton candy and pink flamingo and will probably do a mix of the two..we'll see, very excited!

lately i've also been working on my knitted designs. the one i did that i've submitted to twist is wrapping up. there's a new mod that me and a small sampling of other test knitters are going to do, i just have to get it updated (soon!). and i've just sent out the pattern for the bandana seth's wearing to my test knitters. i've been chatting with laura about our fancy new project (which i'm going to work more on this weekend) and that i want my helvetica knits v.1 to be a publication of that. so i'll probably have a few free patterns and then have a few for purchase on ravelry and then do an e-book of all of them together for a discount rate. PRETTY EXCITING. helvetica knits v. 1 will probably launch in a few months, but the project l and i are working on will probably be live by the end of february! YAY!

stay tuned for WAY lots of squash recipes and themed posts!! i've got a bunch of them in-progress, can't wait to share! XO

autumn squash quesadillas with beans and greens

2011-02-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

when i was in high school i used to go to my friend's, keith and krystyna, house. they were transplants from ontario, way older than me, but way cool and more interesting and fun than hanging out with the losers from school. i would head to their house after school and smoke pot, make fruit salsas, listen to keith talk about his dreams of having a farm and playing DND, and eat the most delicious veggie quesadillas i've ever had in my whole life.

K+K's roommate, who I cant remember the name of right now, used to cook/do kitchen stuff at a restaurant in Terrace, don diegos. they had bean quesadillas on the menu that, in a sea of disgusting corporate-chain restaurant quesadillas (as they were making a food comeback for white people), were delicious. i never ate them at the restaurant more than once or twice because i ate them at k+k's so often, but they have inspired a whole world of quesadilla cooking for me that has made a version of the following recipe a standard in my little brain of a cookbook.

when i was in university the first time (and a vegetarian) i used to make these every week with some kind of hummus be it black bean or white bean. never with refried beans for some reason. i have never really been a buy a can of refried beans kind of person. but then in 2009 our friends from unreliable narrator came to visit us in pg and made us bean burritos with amy's refried beans and it was one of the best things i've ever had. yummy fat laden beans from a can. sign me up.

this quesadilla is a conglomeration of my love for refried beans as well as my need to consume our squash. i also needed something that seth could eat in a jiffy. the best part about bean quesadillas is that you dont really need cheese, but i used some anyway. i also made a chipotle honey sauce similar to the rebar one to put inside, and chopped up some greens, and roasted some garlic with the squash. it sounds like a lot of effort, but it's all super small tasks that add up to spectacularness. seth and i ate them with orange slice, yam coins smothered in sesame seeds, and bolthouse creamy dill dip. so good.

helvetica's quesadilla: no hot sauce and mashed up the squash. i cooked it the same but cut it up into toonie sized bits that he sucked on, rubbed into the table, and threw on the floor. <3

autumn squash quesadillas with beans and greens

ingredients:

for the roasted squash:
1 small autumn squash, skinned, seeded, and cubed
2 tbsp oil
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt

for the chipotle sauce:
4 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp liquid honey (i prefer a dark honey)
1-2 tsp chipotle

for the quesadillas
4 medium sized whole wheat tortillas
1 1/2 c grated old cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 can refried beans (approximately 1 1/2 cups, homemade)

How to:

roast the squash: preheat oven to 400F. toss the squash cubes in oil, garlic, and spices. roast on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes. you can do this in advance and keep them in the fridge until ready to use.

chipotle sauce: in a small bowl combine sauce ingredient and stir well.

quesadillas: heat skillet over medium-low heat on the stove. lay one tortilla out in front of you on counter. using a tablespoon, spread a quarter of the refried beans over right half of the tortilla and spread 2-3 tsps chipotle sauce over the left half. next, take a quarter of the cheese and sprinkle over the chipotle sauce creating an even cover. then take 1/4 of the squash/garlic and spread evenly over the beans. top the entire tortilla with 1/4 portion of the parsley and chopped spinach. carefully transfer the tortilla to the skillet and cook, open, until cheese begins to melt. using a spatula, fold the tortilla in half. i find that folding the bean side over the cheese side is easier and weighs it down. continue to cook for another minute or two, or until cheese is melty. remove with spatula, let cool for one or two minutes before slicing. repeat with remaining 4 quesadillas. eat with sour cream, yoghurt, extra chipotle sauce, homemade ranch dressing, or creamy dill dip.

chorizo squash casserole

2011-02-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

This casserole is a bit mushy, so would be better as a side dish or on top of rice. I'm pretty sure we ate it on its own, which enhanced the soft texture, but seth liked it!

For this dish I used the turban squash I had, which was yummy. To roast it I cut off the stem, sliced it in half in the up-and-down direction and baked it drizzled with a bit of oil in the oven at 400F for almost an hour. Then I cut off the skin and mashed it in a bowl. This is the basic task for softening up some squash in the oven (rather than boiling it) and it saves labourous time in cutting off the skin when it's hard.

The Portuguese chorizo we got from a local, in our neighbourhood, butcher: Pete's Mountain Meats. He makes all of his sausages in house and sources natural and local ingredients as often as possible. It's also really spicy. YUM.

chorizo squash casserole
(adapted from Arabian Squash Casserole from the original Moosewood cookbook, pg. 140)

Ingredients:

1 turban squash, roasted as above and mashed or pureed
1/2 lb spicy chorizo, sliced into 1/2 cm thick rounds
1 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c chopped fresh parsley
1/4 c chopped pecans
2 medium peppers, one red/one green, diced
1 c. yoghurt
1 tbsp paprika (spicy or not)
handful of raisins

How to:

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a pan over medium heat, add olive oil, peppers, garlic, and chorizo and stir constantly to avoid sticking/burning. If it's doing either of those things, add a little bit of water and turn it down. Cook this until the garlic is browned and the chorizo gets a fat crust.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the squash, parsley, yoghurt, pecans, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the chorizo/fried mixture to this and stir to just combined. Pour into an ungreased casserole dish and top with a handful of rasins. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

(Would also be good on toast).

hello weekend!

2011-01-29T08:44:00.000-08:00

Louise Burns - What Do You Wanna Do? from Light Organ Records on Vimeo.

check out my guest post over at colette patterns!

2011-01-27T09:55:00.001-08:00

when sarai asked bloggers to put together a spring palette for her spring sewing challenge i immediately jumped on the bandwagon! it was so fun putting my palette together and just loving grey grey grey!

mostly it's inspired by robyn and her outfits in the dancing on my own video. which did come out last summer but will have huge implications on what i want to wear this spring.
Here's the LINK !!

"i am no student of ancient culture, before i talk i should read a book"

2011-01-26T19:37:00.001-08:00

i finished my first sweater!!! the sweetgum duncan. i love it. except it's too big and now it's blocking (to flatten the lusciousness out a little bit and to lengthen the arms) and i'm terrified. i've been honestly dying of impatience this past three weeks working on the last little bit of it. and today i sat down and wove in the ends. oh i'm so anxious about it fitting! yikes!

in other news prep for squash month is upon us. i already have 2 squash recipes and have cooked up some pumpkin to be turned into a number of yummy things including pizza and scones !! yum!

i had more to say but i'm exhaustemated and still have work to do because the internet was so slow today i couldn't bring myself to waste and hour to do something that takes 10-15 minutes. it was brutal.xo

and it begins!

2011-01-24T20:16:00.004-08:00

february will be !! squash !! month around here; i'm already getting it together! i've planned out some recipes, started cooking (and eating and taking poorly lit pictures), and have even made a fancy banner! my goal for february is to eat every single squash in our cold storage! including the pumpkin! so there's got to be a dozen squash in there.

we have a pumpkin, a turban squash, autumn cup squash, a few different sized delicata squash, a number of both green and yellow hybrid acorns, and some butternuts!

if you're feeling adventurous and would like to post a squash recipe/post here in february just drop me a line at ohsweetie@gmail.com; this could be way fun!

t i r e d

2011-01-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

since my grandma died back in september i've been anxious to get my hands on some of her things. mainly because they smell like her and because i like heirlooms and things that remind me. i've been missing my grandma a lot, and get to see my grandpa even more. which is wonderful. but it's still pretty sad for me, and in passing glimpses, so finally getting my hands on some of her stuff has been good.

i didn't get the chance to get to nanaimo to go through her closet, but my mom has started to bring back garbage bags full of things, organized into "type" (ie. PJs, Sweaters, etc). today i got to go through two bags and unearthed a big pile of vintage grandma pieces that i haven't seen in years. the above is just a sampling. there's a few things that i'll wear just the way they are, but a number of them i'll alter into tunics and / or skirts. very exciting. the smell, though, i can't get over how much they smell like my grandma. absolutely indescribable, but nice, comforting, familiar.

Project ReStyle DIY #1!

2011-01-23T05:05:00.001-08:00

This is my first official Project ReStyle Project! I have had this t-shirt since back in my SFU wannabe lesbian days and I found this pink on browny gingerbreadperson like fabric at a thrift store sometime over the past two years and have been hauling it around. I don't remember if I got it after the great purge before I moved to port, but if I got it before it's lucky to have survived.

I used my favourite tshirt as a pattern for this one. The original is a brown tshirt from the Joe brand (love the joe brand) that I got for super cheap, fits really well, and has held up through weekly wearings for the past two years (and weekly washings). However, it's on it's way out and I'm committed to making as many new shirts out of the same old shirt as possible. That's how much I love the fit. And it always looks good on.

My sewing quality is shitty but whatever.

"oh you wouldn't say it but you wanted to"

2011-01-21T07:09:00.000-08:00

last night, late last night i should say, i made a REbar pasta. having food/cooking goals is incredible. when i have absolutely NO MOTIVATION to cook and no energy to go pouring through my bookmarks or cookbooks i just go, "pick a pasta, grab the shit, and cook it". the thing about the REbar cookbook is trying to find recipes that don't use 800 million (expensive) ingredients, and even though it was pretty expensive to make dinner last night, it was one of the cheaper ones...and it was good. (the problem is that i've also been cooking the cheapest ones first so that means there's gonna only be expensive ones soon. bleck.) the one above is the spinach linguine which is basically the noodles with a sun dried tomato salsa (with artichokes, fresh herbs, kalmata olives, garlic, capers, etc) that you top with Parmesan and fresh cut tomatoes. we've been buying mainly winter veg this whole winter so it's been weird buying veg from chile and china once in a while (when i used to do it ALL THE TIME).

speaking of winter veg, the other night at the agricultural meeting, the farmer i bought all of our squash from gave me shit for not eating it yet. i'd been pacing myself and didn't realize that we're getting fresh veg at the farmer's market soon. so that means we're going to be in squash heaven around here for the next month. i think i just need to start pulling it out. i know i have at least 11 squash and 1 pumpkin and they're all in good shape (it's a good cold room). and while i love squash so much i want to get a squash tattoo, i'm a little lacking in the squash recipes department. let me preface that by saying i hate stuffed squash. it's boring. it's lame. and it's just not very exciting. i'll for sure make some squash burritos and some pumpkin millet muffins from the REbar book, but need suggestions! what are your favourite squash recipes? anything you want to try? anything you want me to experiment with?! i think i'm going to make February SQUASH MONTH around here, with a pretty banner and stuff. maybe i'll make some badges so you can play along too? what do you think?