All The Better To See Me With...

My new Karim Rashid designed compact (this looks like a drawing of it somehow...)

Here's a fun story:

A couple of Fridays ago (my birthday), I decided to hit the AGO on my way to a fab celebration dinner, in order to purchase the beautiful, Karim Rashid-designed double-mirror compact shown above. I'd seen it a couple of weeks prior to that, having drinks with Steen and Nicole, and I showed it to each of them as a prelude to buying it for myself. (Note: About 15 years ago, Hilary gave me a great mirror compact one Xmas. I didn't properly appreciate it at the time, though I ended up using it till it was well and truly trashed, and then some. I've been searching for a replacement for a while. But nothing was quite right. Till this one.)

So, I went to the AGO shop and walked to the chic cabinet where the chic things are stored and - egad! - it was gone. There was not another under the chic cabinet in the chic-teak storage drawer. I was shocked. What business do others have buying the cool things out from under me on my birthday! I sullenly departed and was miserable till I found a new pair of hot sandals (post to follow) to distract me. But not before calling Nicole in a huff to advise about the unfairness of the universe and the misery of loss.

She uttered some platitudinous statement such as: It was just not meant to be and said she'd see me at Terroni at 5:30.

Cut to 7:00 pm after a few prosecco cocktails and the arrival of Steen with - can you get over it?!? - the compact in question! Turns out my thoughtful friends, aware of my love for it, went out to get it for me for my birthday.

Isn't that a beautiful story?

And Then I Bought Some Hot Shoes...

...which somehow manage to be even more comfortable than the "comfortable" ones.

Behold: They're this chic metallic colour (thanks Mardel for corrupting me!). They're the perfect height for walking up and down and up and down etc. Mont Royal. No "back" of the shoe means no achilles blisters. But they stay on because of the velcro ankle strap. Also, they allow my foot to be as wide and stretched as it wants to be. Good sandals. PS They were on sale at B2 for $120.00 plus tax.

PPS: According to my phone-cum-camera-cum-pedometer, I walked 23000 steps on Saturday (egad!) and at least 10000 happened in this sandal - 2nd wearing. It's outrageous, I know.

Both Sides Now

I cannot say how itchy I have been to tell you about every minuscule thought and occurrence of the last week and a half. Now, so much has happened that there's no way I'll remember it all. But I'll try...

Let's start with the broad strokes...

• I'm writing this on the new computer which my husband thoughtfully researched, purchased and is in the process of setting up. I'm going all "cloud". Yes, my puppies, unless the entire universe crashes, I'm not going to lose my stuff again. (Not that I'm issuing some kind of cosmic throwdown here, you understand.) The mouse doesn't appear to be working - every 3 words the cursor moves back randomly and I finish typing the current word in another sentence. And no, I'm not putting my wrist on the tracker! It's doing some other whack shit too, but I'm confident I'm going to work it all out soon. Or have a small breakdown.
  
  
• Thank you everyone for continuing to comment while I was away - and especially for your loving birthday wishes. I am so overwhelmed by comments, posts and new computer set up details that it could be a while before I am in the groove of reading, commenting, writing etc. But I'm going to get started now!
  
  
• I went on a short trip to Mtl. en famille. Of course, you will be hearing about this at length, specifically about my unbelievable purchases (and those of my friend i.e. M's other mum, Nicole).
  
  
• Of course I can't keep it all inside: Awesome skinny jeans (like leggings I tell you - but not) with zippers at ankles. Oh, how I've searched for these. The most sublime perfume ever - I mean ever. And, ahem times 12, harem pants. Look, they were on sale.
  
  
• The garden is more or less complete for this summer. This is to say that it's a work in process, perhaps till the end of time, but in a manageable way. That's its own 53 posts with photos but first I have to figure out how to download the photos and where to put them. Give me a day or 2... I believe you will not be disappointed.
  
  
• I've been taking a zillion photos of beautiful things and moments and purchases and fashions and, as soon as I have some way of curating them all, they will be up for all to see. I will leave you with this lovely montage (which I can't figure out how to downsample so it may take 5 minutes to load, sorry) that my husband took after spending 3 hours putting together garden furniture and styling shots. It's contains some unlikely pics because he wanted to show me places that were a tip which are now clean, thanks to him. Can you get over how thoughtful that was??
  
  
  

The Grass is Greener

Perhaps you've heard of Kensington Market, a grimy Toronto institution rife with thrift stores, yummy empanadas and Roach-0-Rama (conservative TO's surprisingly liberal head shop-cum-toking venue) - amongst other things.

Below, please observe how this crunchy granola in extremis, vegan cafe sports an awning grow-op - of the legal variety!

Cool, huh?

PS 1.: Did I mention (at least 20 times) that it's my birthday today? This is the first day of the last year of my thirties. I say that calls for some good times...

PS 2: Between the hard drive debacle (which has become the hunt for a new computer that, alas, I'm coming to terms with), a little jaunt to Mtl. for a few days, and the need to recharge my batteries, I'm going to take about a week away from blogging. I just need a break and some time to sort out administrivia. No doubt, I'll be back before you miss me! :-) Kxo

Meet My (Insanely) Flowering Almond

Yes, it's still small, but it's mighty!

Chaz, my landscaper extraordinaire, has advised that this is a very unusual flowering almond - in that it's flowers are in puffy clusters, rather than evenly spread along each branch. Apparently, it's either a miraculous, one-off / this year only phenomenon I should take photos of (check), or I got a super special tree that will bloom like fireworks every spring!

Ed. Update: These photos were snapped at the beginning of May. Alas, the blooms are now finished for the season - but what a glorious treat!

New Update: My tree is fighting for its life because the blooms may have choked the leaves leading to a weakness that allowed a worm to get at it. We're working on resolving the problem. I am optimistic but give a good tree vibe if you've got a moment...

On A Clear Day...

You can see my honey locust coming to life!

This Could Be Yours

(Natch, it's DesiretoInspire upping my blood pressure again):


What I love about this place is how it looks vaguely like a real person (as opposed to a socialite or successful designer) could construct this with some love, design sensibility and shopping savvy. And, lucky for y'all, it's for sale.

Jo, the post's author, gives us the recipe for scandi real estate marketability:

"Take a large Swedish apartment. Paint white, strip coverings from the floor, make sure the light is good, fill with fabulous furniture including an obligatory iconic chair or two, design a sexy kitchen, style with accessories from your own homewares store where everything is so covetable that it hurts, make sure your clothing props are hip, employ a talented photographer and sell sell sell."

The full post is here.

Just look at it and tell me what you think.