Getting rid of the junk in my brain.

Just a random assortment of links and comments today, folks! It's year end and we're all wiped around here taking care of last minute biznez.

I spent an unknown amount of time getting a good laugh out of these David and Goliath Tees . Some of them are really resonating today!


Earth Hour is tomorrow, 29 March 2008. Support good 'ole Terra and turn out the lights at 8pm! I hear that there's a free event at Downsview Park if anybody wants to play glow in the dark soccer. Even though it's not quite on the same scale as what Tel Aviv did when cyclists generated enough electricity for a rock concert, it should be fun! Next year, we'll hook Pete up to a generator and make him think he's boxing with a Wii the whole hour. We can do our own rock-out.


This blog of Disapproving Rabbits reminds me of the looks my mom used to give me when I talked about doing things like going to the mall without her.

If anybody is looking for a new way to send out an evite, check out Pingg.

This is something R's been trying to get his friends and family to do for years - no presents! I recently came across this site: Echoage Party it up for your local charity!

I've also come to realize that I want to leave the city behind and live like a hobbit. Check this woodland home out!!! When R's dad was shown this, he said he wouldn't want anything to do with building a mud hut. We know he's lying. Don't forget to check out the roof on that place. I'm super excited to stock my future cupboards with these mugs from Art White!

Speaking of hobbits, LOTR really makes me covet things. Maybe you don't, but I wish I had:

:: an army of the undead
:: an Ent in my backyard
:: a choice between the immortality of the elves and the mortality of men
:: a Mithril shirt (which reminds me, why don't soldiers in war movies wear bulletproof vests?)
:: a Phial of Galadriel, containing the light of Earendil, so that I can smote fear into the hearts of the enemy... i need to do lots of smiting around here sometimes
:: an all-seeing Eye

To make things even more random, I wonder if:

:: Aragorn and Arwen ever had a big fight after they got married, and whether she threw in his face the fact that she gave up the immortality of the Elves for him

:: The men ever did sexy things to each other - they really acted gay. And hey...it was a loooong journey.

:: Frodo lived in turmoil for the rest of his life because he couldn't actually throw the ring into the fire. Oh well, at least he had Sam to comfort him. Aww.... loverrrrsssss!



:: Frodo ever got an infection where Gollum took off his finger. I probably would.

I think I'm missing that thing in your brain that tells you when you're full

So we basically spent the last three days eating. I know we did other stuff too but man, oh man, I'm still full and trying to digest it all.

Friday was mostly cooking. I think I started around 10:30 in the morning. Mostly puttering here and there. Started to scrub and chop a bit. We didn't eat until 5pm though and I was pretty much standing in the kitchen the whole time. R went to borrow a glass pyrex dish, a sauce pan and some serving platters from friends for me. He came back with a few platters that looked like big silver round dishes. On the back, they said:

"For decorative use only. Not for food use"

He convinced me that it was safe. I was desperate so I went ahead and put food on them.

Later, everybody else took one look at them and said "Those are chargers!!"

What the hell are "chargers"? And why does everybody know about them except for us?

As per the tradition in my family, I made too much food. R was like "I knew there was too much food". Uh-huh. Why didn't you stop me when I bought enough sweet potatoes to feed a family of jolly green giants? (Seriously, you should see how big these things are, one is enough for two people. I think I mashed four...for a dinner party of six, come to think of it.)

Unfortunately, I had to scarf down the food in order to make my sewing class on time so I couldn't linger with the family. I basically ate, laughed at the orgy of dirty dishes I left in the sink (all created in the last five minutes of cooking) and ran out the door to catch a streetcar. I think I was still chewing. I did arrive breathless at the class. I'm sure everybody was thrilled by the smell of cooked turkey radiating from my clothes.

When I came back from the class, the condo was all clean and thankfully, nobody was hanging over the toilet seat. R's amazing like that. I make a mess. I leave. I come home and everything is perfect again. (Thanks babe, I couldn't have done it without you!)

Sunday morning, I had made plans to go to the One of a Kind Show with some friends. As always, there were so MANY fresh and fun items that I loved.

::Padded LapTop sleeve from Ellis Designs::

::Storage bags (for my knitting!) from Jenna Rose::

::screenprinted tshirts from ThirdMoonDesigns::

::Floating Circles ring from Constantine Designs::

::wool scarf from TEXTI'LL::


::screen printed teatowels from LuPrints::

::cotton bag from Hoibo::


::amazing pottery from Dotti Potts::


My list is endless. I already picked up the knitting bag and some of the pottery bowls at the Christmas show. I was SO tempted to pick up more this time around. Luckily for my bank account, Dotti Potts was out of the style I wanted and I kept reminding myself that there really is no room in the condo for more STUFFS.

Saturday night saw us hanging out with friends and eating more. R played the Wii a little for the first time. I kept one hand on the buffet table and the other on our friend Tash's pregnant belly. I spent most of the night trying to feel the baby kick.

On Sunday, we headed uptown to pick up Nori who had spent Saturday sleeping over at R's parents. They wanted to dog-sit for us (Nori's so spoiled). Apparently, they all woke up at 2am to watch the Formula 1 racing. Something that I find too adorable and just SO typical of his family.

My parents were antsy to see Nori on Sunday as well. They were convinced that she had forgotten them. So we went over there as soon as we could. I think we arrived at around 4pm and my parents fed us soup. Then there was bruschetta. It's a bit of a blur from there because I think I entered a food coma. I know there was steak, more veggies, chicken wings, fish, tofu and pineapple involved. I believe there was also walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Chocolate. Chinese fried rice. Definitely oranges too. We literally didn't stop eating until 8:30pm. (And when we got home, R dug into the leftovers my parents had packed for us. )

We had a great visit. My aunt and cousins came over. My sister, who had spent the previous day & night on-call at the hospital and delivered 12 babies (12!!!), was also there; and entertaining us with med-school stories. She said she sewed up her last vagina at 5am and was in bed by 9am. This horrified our mother. Not the fact that she was sewing vaginas, but the fact that she only slept for a few hours on Sunday. Although it was initally my parents dream for my sister to become a doctor, they really weren't prepared for the amount of work she'd be doing. They literally thought it would be a life of leisure. But that's another blog.

Anyways, Happy Easter to all. R taped the Ten Commandments for me. I watch it every year. (Having watched it every year, you'd think I would have remembered at Thanksgiving and at Christmas that it was only on at Easter when we spent 20 minutes on the tv guide looking for it.)

I leave you with Nori's Downward Dog yoga pose.

Flowers Die but Yarn is Forever

I love flowers as much as the next person... okay, that's not entirely true. I think they're pretty.

Sometimes I toy with the idea of having fresh cut flowers around the place. But then I realize that I'm just kidding myself. My enthusiasm for receiving flowers wans as soon as the water gets murky and things start turning a yucky slimy greeney brown. They were much better off still attached to their roots.

On the other hand.... this would be a bouquet that just keeps on giving.



:: Yarn Gift Bouquet ::

I think this is a fantastic idea for the knitter in your life.

*ahem*

Mecca

A whole store.
On containers, boxes and organizers. *swoooon*
I'd make a trip down to the States just to visit this store :: here ::



How have I not played at this place yet?

Natalie's Holiday Gift Guide

Tired of scouring the same old stores for the same old gifts? I know I am. Getting annoyed at battling through crowds and waiting in line at the cash? Definitely. Online shopping is the new way (for me) to go. As long as you keep in mind the time it takes to ship items, anyways! I've posted links to some cool stuff for the hard-to-shop-for on your list, in case some of you are stuck for ideas.

* Wooden Keyboard :: via Tree Hugger *

:: Tree Hugger ::
:: I Want One of Those ::
:: Paramount Zone ::

*Sci Fi Faucet Light :: via X-Treme Geek *

:: X-treme Geek ::
:: UnCommon Goods ::
:: Hammacher Schlemmer ::
:: mi Spa ::

*Silhouette Necklace :: via Blue Wild Indigo*

Guys, if you think your wife or your girlfriend wouldn't want jewelry. Think again.
:: Blue Wild Indigo ::
:: Luxe Design ::
:: Kari Woo ::
:: Matsu Jewellery Studio ::

*Bug Vaccuum :: via Hammacher Schlemmer *

For those starting to accessorize a new home:
:: three sheets 2 the wind ::
:: Fjorn ::
:: Urban Barn ::
:: Dotti Potts Handmade Porcelain ::
:: Clay Cauldron ::

* Animal Dreamers :: via Fidoodle *

For the new parents
:: Rockabye Baby! ::
:: Organic Gift Shop ::
:: Fidoodle ::

For those who don't want to buy gifts and want their money to stretch further, please consider donating to your local animal shelter or to one of these worthy causes:

:: EcoLibris ::
:: The Stephen Lewis Foundation ::
:: Doctors Without Borders ::

Don't do the generic gift certificate thing this year, unless you know someone is saving up for a particular something. How many of you have unspent gift certificates to a clothing store or a restaurant lying around? Yeah, I thought so.

If all else fails, you can just have a Buy Nothing Christmas.

Only Two More Sleeps!

And I'm off to NYC! (Which reminds me... I need to find my fugly passport. I hate that picture. It took the dude three tries to take a non-smiling picture that ended up making me look like a sulky suicide bomber closely related to apes)

Mel and I are going for our cousin Jen's stagette. Jen's going to marry her Steve at the end of the August. I've only met him the one time but I liked him immediately. All I know is that he doesn't believe in buying presents for the sake of gift giving. (Jen's not even going to get so much as a piece of paper on their first anniversary) And he's apparently anal about organization. He'll rip out advertisments in magazines so that the magazines will be "thinner" therefore, taking up less room on a bookshelf.

Pretty cool, huh? He'll fit in the fam, just fine.



I'm really looking forward to the trip. It will be really good to see Jen and her sister, Angela. As children, we used to spend a good chunk of our summers together. We have so many great memories. There was one time when the four of us (okay, me and my bright ideas) were convinced that we could PICK. UP. and move the tail end of my dad's chevette over on an angle so we could get it out of the garage. And another time when we were in camp and we lied and said we were all sisters. We got stuck when they asked us how old we were because Angela is 8 months older than I am and that's exactly what we told the counsellors... who couldn't figure out how "our mom did it".



And New York! I think I'm gonna love New York. I'm so totally looking forward to exploring but I have a feeling that four days is barely enough to soak it up. Mel and I are going a day earlier than everybody else. We're going to check out :: Rent :: on Broadway. I ummed over which show to watch for weeks. Having to pick one and ONLY ONE was a lot more difficult than you might think. I do recommend this site for good deals and ticket savings :: Playbill ::

Also on the list of must-see attractions... (and this is where Risto can stop reading)...

nope, not the Empire State building... not the Statue of Liberty... probably won't make it to the Guggenheim ...and most likely won't check out the Yankee Stadium or anything like that....

YARN STORES.

Okay, there are definitely two (or four) on my list that I have to check out.

:: Purl Soho ::
:: Habu ::
:: Knit New York ::
:: The Point NYC ::

Other than that, the usual cross border shopping experiences...

:: Bath and Body Works :: Victoria Secret :: Coach ::

If we can squeeze in Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Kate's Paperie and FAO Shwartz, I'll be happy.

(Risto I swear, I'll only be looking.)