So, yesterday afternoon Rob and I met my Mom at the mall.  it was her birthday, so we wanted to get her something.  First thing we did was went to David’sTea and we all got teas.  Then we went to Second cup, and got mom a brownie cupcake (as her birthday cake!), as well as a cutesy cookie.  Mom and I went to sit down, while Rob finished paying for the food.  He joined us, and put Second Cup sleeves on our teas to be polite and hide the David’sTea logos.  He also had a bag with another cookie in it, and he gives it to me.  I thank him for getting me a cookie, he said he thought I bought it.  So, we determine it was given to us in error, so, being the right thing to do, he takes it back.  In the meantime, Mom’s  got her crumbly brownie cupcake out of its wrapper, and all over a plate.  She’s eating away with a fork, it was that messy.  So, just as Rob gets back to the table, one of the employees from Second Cup came over and told us that we couldn’t sit there because we had drinks from somewhere else.   We pointed out that we bought food from them, and she said it didn’t matter, we had to leave.  Right then and there.  My mom couldn’t even finish her cupcake.  I think that was very rude and uncalled for.  We bought their product as well, but because we also had something else with us, it vetoed their product?  When we go to the mall for coffee and Rob goes to Second Cup and then meets me at StarBucks to have a seat, Starbucks never tells him to get lost.  AND, we had even covered our cups with THEIR sleeves.

Needless to say, we will NEVER shop at SecondCup again.  Too bad for them, because Rob was going there when he’d do a “coffee run” for work, which was at least a few times a week.  And, the only product I really liked from there was the cupcakes (StarBucks makes way better coffee), but I can get those from the sourse, the Cake Box.

I was thrilled to visit David’sTea, which opened this past week in Champlain Place.  They have stores in Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto as well.   It’s very chic, a nice spacey store, very modern.  When you go in, in one corner there’s shelving with lots of tea related items, like teapots, infusers, organic honey, mugs, etc.  But, the real WOW is behind the counter, the wall of tea!  Row after row of stainless steel canisters, all containing a different loose teas.  There’s green teas, white teas, chai teas, black teas, etc etc etc, all of which have a whole slew of different flavors.  They have these darling little shot glasses you can get a sample of their “tea of the day” in, and you can smell any canister you wish. I am in love!  I bought loose Fruite mate (citrusy with papaya and pineapple!), and Coco Chai Rooibos.  Princes range from $4ish to $20-something for the really rare exotic teas, for a 50g  bag (which makes about 25 cups of tea).  If you’re a tea drinker, or even a novice, go in for a peek.  The staff are all super helpful, and they’ll even recommend what types of tea you may like based on your tastes.  Before you commit to buying a bag of loose tea, you can also buy it fresh brewed “to go” to try it out.  I had Tiramisu (yum!), and Strawberry White, which I let cool off, tossed in a little sugar and ice, and made a heavenly iced tea.  It’s nice that they also have pamphlets in the store, educating you on which kinds of teas have which health benefits.

I’m already a big fan. I can’t wait to try other teas from them.  They change some teas with the seasons, right now they’re almost done their “Winter Collection” apparently.  So if you want to get in on the Glitter & Gold, After Midnight, Tiramisu, Toasted Walnut, Lemon Bombshell, Mulled Chai, and Orange Julep goodness, I suggest you hurry in!  

I had a horrible sleep last night, and the night before that. Last night I think it was because I drank so much tea, so I was hopped up on caffeine. The night before, Arty kept me up. I don’t know what was up with him, but he just tore around the house bgin bad all night, all the while howling for Luna to go play with him. I’m working on a Caramel Macchiato, so hopefully that gets me through the night. I work a 10 hour shift, so it’s going to be such a loooooong night.

mocha frap [57-365]

Originally uploaded by Kaarin

Oh.My.Sweet.Lord.

Starbucks makes ice cream. my life is now complete. Well, next time I go to the US, my life will be complete. Unless it comes to Canada before then!

<3

We took this a few weeks ago.  This is Rob, with my niece Jemma, calling our cat, Arty.  Jem’s a year and a half old.  <3

Rob loves granny things.  Doilies, old British tv shows, and hot water bottles.  I, on the other hand, am pretty prejudiced against hot water bottles.  I hate the smell of the rubber.  Yick!  So when, much to my dismay, Rob recently bought a hot water bottle to bring to bed to make his bum knee feel better, I was less than thrilled.  So, the solution: I made him a snuggly hot water bottle cover, from a felted upcycled wool sweater, and I added a handmade felt Superman patch, so it’s stylin’ too.    It was nice to sit down and really use my serger. I haven’t used it much, and the last time i used it it all jammed up.  But this time I threaded it pretty fast, and it worked like a charm.  I also got to play with the differential feed too, so that was neat.  The water bottle cover came out perfect!  Yay!

So I found an excellent tutorial over at Neauveau Fiber Arts on how to use food dyes, such as Wilton cake decorating dyes, and kool-aid to dye wool.  Now, I’m a creative person, but there’s also a very science geek part of me.  I was very intrigued with the fact that in this tut, you add the dyes to water, so the water becomes colored…..THEN, when you boil it enough, with vinegar, the fabric completely absorbs the dye.  So the water ends up clear.  So fascinating!  I’m working on a couple of rug hooking projects at the moment, and  I wanted to overdye some turquoise wool I had with a deeper turquoise to give it some depth, and I also needed some orange too.  I got out my dyepot, and my Wilton colors.  I like also liked this method because it’s just food coloring, so it’s safe.  No chemicals mussing up my kitchen.  I even used a wooden spoon, and don’t have to worry about using again it for food.  Below, the results!  In both pictures, the “before” fabrics are on the left, “after” on the right.  I am pleased with how bright and vibrant they are!  I’m not sure on how colorfast they are, but only time will tell for that. This technique is good for any animal fibers apparently, so wool (I used wool fabric, but can’t wait to try roving too!), alpaca, etc.

I’m glad that I didn’t have anywhere to go today, and that Rob booked today off work a few days ago.  It’s nice not having to go out in this blizzard.  It’s crazy out there!  So, I’m going to stay all snuggly inside, working on photos (WAY behind on my flickr uploads), and Etsy, and maybe do a little art journaling.  I’m sure WOW will work it’s way in there somewhere too.  Yes, I am addicted.  And I am kicking some serious ass.  Level 77 Night Elf Hunter baybee.  Much to Roxanne’s dismay.  She hates being known as “the girl who hangs out with the girl who plays WOW.”  hahaha  I don’t even have to make supper tonight, since I have porkchop and baked potato leftovers.  Yum!

I’m just realizing now that I haven’t posted since before Christmas.  I got through Christmas.  I was glad when it was done and over with.  I only did one Christmas craft.  I hadn’t planned on doing any, but then I saw a post on a blog (which I can’t seem to find now, oh well) of a kitschy little craft from a vintage magazine.   They used vintage Christmas balls, and glued them to real ice cream cones to make little ice creams to hang on your tree.  I got excited about it, because I had some little plastic ice cream cones I had bought forever ago, that i had tucked away, knowing I’d do something with them someday.  I also have quite a few vintage Christmas balls.  I LOVE them!   So, I gathered all that together, along with some dimensional paint to use as “syrup” and glitter, beads, and microbeads to use as “sprinkles”.  And Voila!

I’m really not feeling Christmas this year.  Actually, I’m pretty well skipping Christmas this year.  Being a crafter (and interior decorator), this should be one of the funnest times of the year for me, but alas, I just can’t get into the Christmas spirit.  I’m feeling really stressed out and run down the past little while.  And it’s not even because of Christmas; it’s just in general.  And, as I learned a couple of years ago, when you get really run down and have a lot of stress and anxiety, your immune system weakens, so you become more susceptible to becoming ill.  I had a viral infection (as far as I could tell, it’s just the flu without the aches), and now this head cold seems to be getting the better of me.  The sinus pressure is persisting, and now my ears are bugging me.  I can’t sleep, and when I do my sinuses wake me up.  I just feel so exhausted.  If anyone wants to send me away to somewhere sunny for Christmas, I’d be forever grateful.

So, I haven’t put a tree up, an I don’t think I will.  No lights, no ornaments, all my totes of Christmas stuff are still in the basement.  For anyone who received a goodie basket of sweets last year, sorry, I haven’t done any baking this year, and I doubt I will.  I don’t know ho long my stove will hold up anyways.

On to that.

Did you know, if you have a ceramic stove top, and something sweet boils over, if you don’t wipe up the spill immediately, it can EAT into the surface of your cook top.  Heed my warning!  I had some honey garlic sauce boil over, and, being the procrastinator I am, I left it overnight.  Well, by the next day, the sugary sauce had done quite a bit of damage.  Now there are pockmarks, or chips, in my stove top.  It literally ate the surface.   I bought this stove in Sept 2008, when I bought the matching fridge and dishwasher.  A beautiful new set for my kitchen.  Just got it all paid for this Sept too.  Now, sit down (I assume you probably were already, I mean, who really stands up to use their computer?  But, just wanted to warn you).  You can’t repair a cook top.  There’s no magical putty you can smooth in there, no resin you can pour in.  It needs to be replaced.  The cost for the “part”.  Over $5oo.  That’s before taxes and instillation, after which puts you up above the $600.  The repair guy actually told me over the phone to sit down before he gave me the quote.  Good thing.  So, since the damage didn’t eat all the way though the glass (yes, it apparently could have been worse), he said I should be able to use it, but there’s no telling how long it will last.  It’s very much like a car windshield.  Once you get a chip, you can leave it, but eventually, the changing temperatures, from hot to cold, will crack it.  I was relieved to find out that (again, like a windshield….why do I know more about cars than ovens??  haha) when it does crack or shatter, it’s tempered, so it will all hold together, not have a dramatic blowing-up.  That’s good, because then I wouldn’t chance using it if it was going to suddenly explode all over my kitchen.  It does make me sad, because I love my oven so. It’s so awesome.  It’s black and stainless.  It’s HUGE (big enough for a 28 pound turkey!), and so beautiful.  I’m a loser, I know.  Everyone else is all “oh, look at my awesome sports car, or designer handbag.  Me, it’s all about my oven.  I’ll take an appliance over a Louis Vuitton any day).  So, for now we’re just going to use it until it goes.  Or until we catch a good sale (which could make buying a new one cheaper than repairing this one.)  We haven’t decided if we will get the same stove, or maybe one with raised burners.  I wish I would have known about the whole sugar eating the glass thing when I bought it.  I would have been more careful, or maybe have avoided the flat top all together.  I guess you really should read the whole instruction manual for everything you buy, even if you think “Ok, it’s a stove. Here are the buttons, there’s the door, got it!”.  Lesson learned – sometimes a stove isn’t just a stove.

I tried to get a good pic of the damage, and this was the best I could do.  This pic best shows the depth of the chipping, albeit a bit blurry.  Isn’t that crazy?  It is also, of course, the expandable burner – my most used one. 

I made myself a button bouquet long ago, knowing it’s quirkiness would go great in my craft room.  My friends, they all laughed.  Not with me, at me. HAHA.  It’s not like I came up with the idea of button bouquets; people sell them on Etsy even.  I know they’re silly, but they really do fit in in my craft room!  hehe

Roxanne had a great idea for her art journal.  She took a whole bunch of page theme ideas, put them on slips of paper, put them into a container, and when she needs inspiration, she pulls one out and goes with it.  I just had to steal this idea!  I found a bunch of theme ideas on the internet, and threw in some of my own as well.  I chose my first one last night, and it was “My first memory”.  Excellent!   I grabbed the scrapbook my mom made me of my childhood, and scanned in the pic I wanted.  You can see it below, with a TTV (thru the viewfinder) effect added.  I was 21 months old, and I remember this moment.     I’m all set to print that out, along with some buttercup graphics, and journal up a storm.  I have yet to post pics of my art journal, but I will get to it eventually, especially when I finish this page.

My brother Jason just posted a couple of new pics to Facebook.  He and his wife Sherry had gone and gotten family pics done, and they’re so cute!  This one just melts my heart!  <3  Jemma is 15 months, Jesiah is 3 months.  There is very much auntie love!

Manhattan restaurant Paradou’s owner Vadim Ponorovsky has a serious lack of work ethics.  He sent the following email to his employees, after he had told them to gather customers’ email addresses:

To All,

Please read this email carefully. This is the last time we will be discussing this.

This weekend, saturday and sunday we had 451 customers. Guess how many emails we collected? 60? 80? 40? No. None of those. We, or more acurately you, collected 2 emails. Thats less than half of one percent. 2 fucking emails.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU ASSHOLES?!?!?! How many times do we have to tell you how important it is that you collect emails. Everytime we have a slow night and you make no money and you sit there bitching about how you make no money, remember its because youre fucking lazy motherfuckers. YOU SHOULD ALL BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY!!!!! ALL OF YOU, INCLUDING THE HOSTS!!!!

Let me guess, youre probably sitting there saying “Vadim is such a fucking asshole. How dare he speak to me like this. I dont need this.” Youre right, you dont, so why dont you get the fuck out. Any and all of you.

Youre probably sitting there saying “How dare he speak to me like this. How dare he not have respect for me”. Youre right there also. I have absolutely no respect for any of you. Why? Because every fucking day, all of you continue to show that you have absolutely no respect for me or Alex. So if you dont respect us enough to do the little that we ask you to do, then GET THE FUCK OUT YOU FUCKING LAZY DISRESPECTFUL ASSHOLES!!!!!

Effective immediately, any server or host who fails to collect at least 20 emails per week, will be fined $100. Anyone failing to collect at least 20 emails for two weeks in a month will be fired immediately. No matter what. No matter who you are.

You dont want to do your job, you dont want to do what we ask, you dont belong at Paradou. Go find another place to work.

How dare you disrespect Alex and me this way. How dare you completely ignore what we ask of you time after time after time.

I am sick of all this shit, you bunch of fucking children. This is what I have to deal with at 6AM?!?!? I wouldnt tolerate this from my 13 year old, and Im sure as shit not going to tolerate it from any of you assholes.

You give no respect, you get 10 times back.

When questioned about the email by Grub Street New York, he didn’t try to back paddle or sugar coat anything, saying  “Out of the whole e-mail, the only term I regret is the ‘lazy mothertfuckers’ term.”

I’m almost speechless.  Yes, I believe in blatant honesty, but I also believe in respecting other people, especially when those people work for you.  I can tell you where I’m NOT going to eat next time I’m in the City.

I made this carousel horse while I worked at Lewiscraft.  It was a lot easier than it looked.  I started with a papier mache form, which I base coated in the corresponding colors I was going to be using for the beads – white for the body, peach for the hair, etc.  That way the space between the beads is a lot less noticeable.  Then, I grabbed my glue gun, and those strings of beads you buy by the meter, and just started wrapping, gluing as I went along.  I think it turned ou really neat, and the manager loved it so much she put it on display in the store.  I stopped working there a few years before Lewiscraft shut down, soI have no idea whatever happened to it.  Hopefully it found a good home with a little girl!

My bedroom is chocolate brown and turquoise, and I needed a little something to hang on the walls, so I found these 2 oval wooden frames at a thrift store.  They were already painted white, which was what I wanted, so bonus.  I painted the inside trim chocolate.  I printed out a couple of pictures of birds, then traced their silhouettes on brown paper.  Once cut out, I clued them to some fantastic Martha Stewart scrapbooking paper, cut to the size of the frame, and voila!  Fast, lovely art!