Alice Valentine

People Tree

I adore this shirt from people tree... so cute!

Check out this embroidered dress! Love it!

I think this Kesia Kaftan dress is fantastic!

If only Jarod and I (like everyone else right now) weren't in a money slump. I suppose it would help if I had an actual job rather than an unpaid internship. At least I'm loving it and learning a ton. I had a great time last this weekend. I took the ferrie over to Vancouver Island with my friend Pam. She went to see her family, and I went and saw my parents new house. I took lots of pics, so I'll post them sometime this week.

Chicken and Fish Don’t Grow On Trees

I just finished reading this post over at GirlyGirl Army and had to link to it. Definitely worth a read for everyone. 

Handmade Nation Vancouver Screening

My mom and I went to the Vancouver screening of Handmade Nation last night and it was awesome. I feel completely inspired and can't wait to craft up some more goodies for my shop. The movie was brilliant, and I hope everyone gets a chance to see it! It will be coming out on DVD in the fall. I also got the book (thanks mom!) which I haven't had a chance to read yet but is loaded with great pics and interviews with awesome crafters! 

This weekend I will be taking the ferry to Nanaimo to check out my parents new home. It sounds beautiful. I hear they have raspberries and peaches in their yard! 

I've been getting lots of mini projects at the design firm this week and am really excited about some of my projects. I got to design a pattern that will go on a malls giveaway shopping bags for the holidays, and next week along with the other designers I am presenting two of my ideas to a client for a holiday recipe booklet. I was invited out for lunch with some of the work people I work with and it was fun, they were really nice. 

I'm hoping Jarod and I can have a nice night together since we don't see each other Monday-Thursday (he works nights, I work days) and I'll be gone this Saturday and Sunday to see my folks. 

Handmade Nation

Tonight my mom and I are going to the Vancouver screening of Handmade Nation and I am so excited!

People watching on the bus.

Riding the bus is always entertaining to me. I enjoy people watching and you can find all sorts of interesting characters on the bus. Yesterday was no exception.

While I was waiting at the bus stop to go home there was a man sitting on the bench and I was standing beside the pole, with my feet about a foot from the edge of the curb. When the bus started to get close the man got off the bench and walked directly in front of me and stood there so he would get on before me. He then proceeded to talk to himself. The bus was quite full so as I was walking to stand at the back of the bus the man went ahead and sat down by squeezing himself in between two girls. They both stood up right away surprised and the man looked quite pleased for finding a seat. At the next stop a few seats opened up so the girl standing beside me went to sit down in one and the same man leaped from his seat, ran to the seat she was going to sit in and yelled out "I beat you!". While we were going over the bridge we passed a parade of people who were holding flags and shouting "Shame on China." The man said "What are they doing? Why are they holding flags and yelling shame on China? Oh I know what they're doing..." and then he proceeded to explain all about China and their illegal occupation of Tibet with great detail. He then said, "Oh thank you sir for explaining. You're welcome." He was quite the character.

A few stops after the first man got off, a guy in his mid-twenties got on the bus shouting "I only have 85 cents! I only have 85 cents! The driver let him on without paying the full amount, and then he asked, "don't I get a transfer?" Once he got his transfer ho proceeded to walk to the back of the bus while talking very loudly about how he forgot to wear a belt today and so his pants were falling down, but they fit perfectly this morning. He sat at the back of the bus, near me, and started pulling change out of his pockets and counting it. Apparently he could have payed his full fare. Suddenly he looked up at a random woman and said "Do you need eggs to make peanut butter cookies? I have to make peanut butter cookies today and I don't know what you put in them!" She actually answered with an awesome response, "No you don't need eggs. I use flax seed instead [a vegan egg replacer]." She then listed off the rest of the ingredients and he thanked her. When he was close to his stop he got up and stood beside a man at the back door and again told him all about how his pants were falling down and he's had to hold them up all day. He had considered using his shoe lace but decided against it. 

Shop Update!

Dollhouse love.

I want a dollhouse. Yes, I realize that I am 24 years old and married with no children, but I still want a dollhouse. They're so adorable and you can decorate them with the cutest little furniture! I found some beautiful things online at The Little Dollhouse Company.

 

I also found a beautiful vintage metal one on Etsy.

Aren't they so cute!?

A clip of my life.

Currently I am sitting on my sofa with a fresh cup of earl gray tea and two cookies beside me. Gizmo just jumped on the sofa and snuggled up against my leg. It's Monday, which is laundry day for us, so the washer and dryer are humming in the other room and I have piles of folded laundry around me. The sink is full of dishes, but I won't get to them tonight. On the kitchen table I have several ACEO's drying. I'm really excited about this set... think vintage. 

I had my ultrasound (to clarify again, I'm not pregnant) today and when she first put the scanner on my belly she said "woah your bladder is full!". Of course it was, I followed the darn instructions and drank 4 cups of water two hours before. Wouldn't everyone she sees have full bladders? She was very nice though. She had to do another type of scan on me after the ultrasound but she let me run to the bathroom first. We also ran into Jarod's sister's boyfriend in the waiting room. He fixes medical equipment at hospitals and clinics for a living. It's always strange when you run into people you know at totally random places. 

On the way home from the lab Jarod was driving and a car started tailgating him really, really close. Jarod is not a slow driver, so he tapped his breaks to signal to the guy to get of his tail. The guy in the car behind us freaked out and laid on its horn for a loooong time still following right behind us. Then he swerved out in to the other lane and started swerving right at us before cutting us off completely and slamming on his breaks. We came to a stop behind him and Jarod and the other driver both jumped out of their cars and started yelling at each other. The other guy kept screaming random things like "you're going to jail", etc. as he started going through his glove box. I'm guessing he was looking for a pen and paper to write down our license plate number. Jarod got back in to our car (I know it was because if he talked to the guy any longer he would have punched him) and tried to drive away from the situation but the other driver got back in his car and kept swerving in front of us, cutting us off and signaling for us to pull over. He almost hit us so many times! When we were behind him in a left turn lane he obviously wanted us to pull over when we turned left so Jarod turned right instead and we lost him. Jarod has a bit of a temper (never, ever towards me) so he was breathing really heavy. It was such a weird situation! I was in the passengers seat the entire time so I saw exactly what happened. The only thing possibly "wrong" that Jarod did was tap his breaks a bit so the idiot behind us would get the point to stop tailgating. And the guy FREAKED! 

This is why I don't like driving. Too many crazy people on the roads. 

Ultrasound

Tomorrow (technically today, since it's 2AM), I have an ultrasound. No, I'm not preggers, it's simply to check up on the girly issues I've been having for two years. The thing about ultrasounds, however, is that you have to have a full bladder. My appointment is at 11:45AM so I can't go to the bathroom past 8:45AM and at 9:45AM I have to drink four 8-ounce glasses of water. I've had ultrasounds before and it's never an easy task. The worst is during the actual ultrasound when you're bladder is about to burst and the technician pushes down on your belly with the thing-a-ma-jig. 

Today Jarod and I went to IKEA to pick up glass jars for all of our bulk food. We're pretty healthy eaters so we have lots of fresh nuts, beans, quinoa, rice, etc. that we keep in jars. I also made super yummy cookies (Cowgirl Cookies from Get it Ripe, my favourite cookbook) while Jarod and I watched most of the second season of Six Feet Under. My friend Chelsea recommended the show to me a long time ago and I recently saw seasons one and two on sale at the video store so I grabbed them. We only have one more episode of season two and then we're going to have to find season three on sale some where so I can find out what happens next! 

Relaxing on the sofa.

Last night Jarod and I headed out to Deep Cove to visit my friend Christina from school who was having a party. Her house is beautiful and she lives right on the water. She also has an adorable dog named Abby. Jarod and I dog sat her for a weekend last year.

We didn't stay too late since we didn't really know anyone, but after we headed out to my friend Pam's apartment. She is also in my program at school and is the other intern at the design firm, so we've been getting to know each other better this week. We hung out at her cute apartment and played with her adorable cat, Bijoux. 

Today Jarod and I went to Whole Foods so I could buy my current obsession, vegan vanilla cupcakes. We met my parents for dinner at a vegetarian mexican restaurant on Commercial Ave. and then went for gelato. My parents are moving off of their sailboat and are renting a house in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. They get to move in tomorrow so they are really excited. I can't wait to go visit them (I'll have to take the ferry to get there, which I always find entertaining). 

Now Jarod and I are relaxing on the sofa with Gizmo snuggled between us and watching a movie.