rainy sunday study break

I have gotten way more than my money's worth out of this cheapie pine dresser from Walmart. I originally dressed it up with washi tape but since I'm going to be moving into a bachelor apartment in about 8 weeks, meaning this is going to be a part of my living space as well, it's a good time for makeover round 2. Stay tuned for finished product...
Soundtrack to the afternoon: Hey Rosetta's album from the fall, Second Sight. Soooooo good! I highly recommend.

homemade vegetable stock

This is so easy to do that it's not really a recipe. Since I started getting CSA boxes I have had tons of lovely vegetable scraps and using them up to make vegetable stock feels better than throwing them in the trash (London doesn't compost!)

Here's what I do...

Save veggie/fresh herb scraps in the freezer, chopped up into relatively small pieces to maximize the surface area (I make sure to include lots of onion and garlic, and this batch I had some fresh thyme to add).

Put the veggies in the slow cooker and add enough water just to come up to the top of the veggies and add some salt. Turn it on low and leave it to hang out for a few hours.

Strain out all the veggie bits...done! I'm going to use mine to make enchilada sauce for dinner tonight.

2015 calendars

 These calendars are so lovely! I can't decide which one(s) I want. All from easy. Above, here. Below, here. I love the idea of being able to embroider each month.

local produce box and cauliflower tabbouleh

I ordered my first produce box from On The Move Organics (London, ON) last week and I so wish I had done it earlier! It's $30 (free delivery) each week, with a one-time $15 deposit for the rubbermaid tote the food is delivered in. The food is almost entirely local, and all organic.

Last week's box contained:

4 cobs of sweet corn, 1 head of purple cauliflower, 1 bunch of parsley, 2 lemon cucumbers, 1 lb. hot house tomatoes, 1 bunch of rainbow beets (1 of which is pictured above), 1 bunch of celery, 1 grapefruit, a mini red watermelon, 2 packham pears.

I think it's pretty great value, and plan to keep up with it next year, especially for those weeks where I sincerely don't have time to make it to the grocery store, such as exam week. I also like that it makes me experiment with new foods. They include a suggested recipe, using many of the ingredients each week, too, like last week's for cauliflower tabbouleh, which I'm including below:

1 head cauliflower, grated or finely chopped (I used my purple one)

1 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup chopped mint

3 green onions, chopped

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

2 lemon cucumbers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

dressing:

juice from 1 lemon

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Mix the chopped veggies, mix the dressing and toss together. I liked it better after it had sat in the fridge overnight, and I also made only a half recipe because that's a lot of tabbouleh, otherwise! I'd also recommend chopping more finely than I did in the photo, and I will do that next time for sure.

Also, the beets came with gorgeous greens attached that I couldn't bear to waste so I went recipe hunting and also made this wicked salad, that I will be making AGAIN for dinner tonight.

anatomical art

I finally got around to framing this little print that I picked up in Halifax a few weeks ago. Perfect bathroom decoration in a house where we have anatomy charts of the heart, muscles, and skeleton as wall art in our dining room. I love the idea of anatomy as art in general, and these are some cool, if slightly creepy, examples that I've collected:

brainy (ridiculously expensive) bicycle helmet from anthropologie

anatomical heart tattoo, found on pinterest that I couldn't source

anatomy collages found via honestlywtf

anatomy prints available on society 6 (check out the lungs too!)

thump thump print, discovered via this vscocam page, and available here.

roasted beet hummus

This is a recipe from the blog freutcake that I have crept back through my pinterest so many times to look it up that I thought I'd share (link here). Almost too pretty to eat! Beets, cumin, lemon juice and garlic. Yum!

summer reads

I had seen both of these books recommended over the past year and gave each a try. Both bestsellers, but wow, two TOTALLY different vibes:

Where'd You Go Bernadette, by Maria Semple
Read this if you're looking for a silly, light summer read. It's kind of a mystery novel, and written in a unique style, telling a story of an eccentric mother's disappearance from her daughter's perspective, cobblestoned together from emails, newspaper articles and other things. I liked it, and I'm going to send it to my sister to read, but it was a little too light for my liking.

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
Read this book if you're looking for something to become completely absorbed in! I will probably finish this one today, and it's the best book I've read in a long time. The writing is rich, the characters are complicated, and the plot twists and turns. This is NOT a light book, and it's quite melancholic throughout, but it's one of those books where I've gotten so attached to the characters that I'm going to be sad when I've finished it.

Also, after leaving my kobo e-reader on the greyhound one day, I decided to give reading The Goldfinch on my iPad a try, and I have been very pleased, to the point where I won't replace my kobo. Pros: you can adjust the screen brightness easily, and you can flip the text so that it's vertical (as in the picture), or horizontal and split into 2 pages, depending on if you want to hold the ipad or prop it against something to read. Still love having a paper copy every once in a while though!!

one (very) little thing

Wow, was I ever excited for this to arrive in the mail!

I had been wanting a terrarium and to experiment with air plants for a long time, so I did some hunting around online. I wanted to order from somewhere in Canada, and ended up coming across the Etsy shop Glimpse Glass.


Airplants somehow live off of only water, which you dip this little guy into occasionally. Super low maintenance, which suits my current lifestyle very well!

Air plant...terrarium...geometric...a deer...so on trend! (wink)

Kara, the vendor, was great to work with, and this arrived within less than a week. Please note that I put in the little fawn myself (because I just happen to have things like little fawns lying around), and see the picture below for a closeup of what the terrarium kit looks like on its own.

The only comment I have is that the terrarium is small enough to fit in your hand! I originally wanted something larger, but it got a little expensive, so I will keep my eyes open for another potential addition to my collection!

Also, thanks to Lucy's encouragement, I have been playing around with editing my photos on the app vscocam. These are just quick little pics I whipped off on my iphone (at night, in my room...bad photo etiquette), but the app is very fun and a great source of eye candy! Check it out!

love or hate?

This pic came up on my pinterest feed (courtesy of Wit + Delight). I tried to track down some more info from it, but the original pin was just a file, not a website.

I'm not sure how I feel about it, but at least it is interesting! On the one hand it reminds me of my parents' 1950s style home, but it is a neat modern twist.

cookbook review: the oh she glows cookbook

I have been following the blog oh she glows, for almost 2 years now, so I was anxiously awaiting this cookbook.

Hands down my favourite cookbook I have ever owned or tried. It's full of beautifully photographed vegan recipes for meals, snacks and desserts and includes recipes for making homemade vegan staples. I just counted and I have made 11 recipes out of it since purchasing it in March, and loved them ALL!

Although I don't label myself as vegan (see feta cheese in photo above), I'm also not afraid of the label! I find a lot of people are...they have the same reaction to "vegan" as they do to "feminist". Amusingly, even my meat and potatoes roommates have been wandering kitchen into to the kitchen to see what the amazing smell is every time I cook from this book and everything has passed the taste test. The recipes are hearty and filling, but without a bunch of hard to find ingredients.

I had been seeing and hearing about cashew cream for a long time and wanted to try it out...today was the day! In the top right picture is the "broccoli & cashew cheese-quinoa burrito" and my own potato roasties. So yum. Cashew cream is made by soaking cashews overnight (they turn rubbery) and then blending them. They turn into the neatest consistency. The "cheese" includes other ingredients like nutritional yeast and mustard. I am not a big fan of the idea of vegan recipes trying to taste "non-vegan," but this has a great taste all of its own. I can't wait to try the desert version (similar to whipped cream).

Pictured on the bottom left is photo for the "cream of tomato soup with roasted italian chickpea croutons." Next on my list!

I would recommend to anyone to check this book out, but if you are unsure, the oh she glows blog is also full of (free) recipes.

spring trend: clothes with a different twist

This spring I'm liking pieces that are made of unexpected materials.

2 favourites:

Silk sweatshirt from j.crew, unfortunately no longer available, but that I love the idea of.

The softest denim pants that are basically sweatpants, from aritzia (don't worry, I am aware that these pants are man-repellers and fully prepared to accept the consequences).

I'll get back to you when I manage to find a pair of dress shoes that feel like sneakers.

one little thing

A treat arrived in the mail today! I ordered the gold iphone 5s in September and was willing to wait a few months just so I could get the colour I wanted...and then promptly covered it up with a phone case (black case, picture on the left)!

If you haven't heard of rifle paper co. before, they make really lovely products. I follow Anna Rifle on instagram, so I knew this clear iphone case was up and coming and ordered it as soon as it was available. Now I can see my blingy phone! I do love the old case though too (also rifle, but no longer available), so I'm sure I'll keep switching it up. I also ordered this sassy little notepad:

PS keep an eye on the rifle instagram for discount codes posted occasionally, but it's also just a great source of eye candy.

turning 30

This birthday is a big one! I read this quote awhile ago and realized that it has become my motto this year, and something that I want to keep trying to live up to!

As winter (finally) comes to an end and as I hit this milestone birthday, Id like to share 3 goals I've set for myself, kind of like spring resolutions:

1. Cook at least 1 actual recipe each week. I keep buying cookbooks and then just eating the same boring easy things, despite loving healthy food and loving to cook!

2. Dress like my Pinterest, ie. stop just buying stuff at The Gap because I come across a good sale (not hating on The Gap, but I'd like to have a little more flair in real life!). Lucy is amazing at doing this!

3. Remember that I LIKE doing things like running, cooking, blogging, reading (other than textbooks, and even textbooks, too). Since starting school again in September, I've been so busy that even fun things feel like chores sometimes.

and happy birthday to any other March babies out there!

my future home: floor-to-ceiling subway tiles

Images sourced via pinterest: 1 / 2 / 3 

beauty product test drive

I've never written about beauty products before, and I'm not exactly high maintenance, but this is different and fun, definitely worth a share!

Read more after the jump...

make-ahead summer salad

This is almost so easy I shouldn't call it a recipe, but I'm always amazed that something so simple can taste sooooo good.

I'm calling this a make-ahead salad because I steam my broccoli and sautee the tofu at the start of the week, and then everything's ready to go in my fridge at any time.

Ingredients:
1-2 broccoli crowns, chopped and steamed
1 block of firm tofu, cubed and sauteed with spices (my go-to is Clubhouse's Thai seasoning mix. I eat this on nearly everything)
cherry tomatoes
2 avocados
2 lemons
Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or soya sauce, but if you've never tried Bragg's, I'd recommend checking it out!)

This makes 4 servings in total, which I eat 1 at a time by tossing 1/4 of the broccoli, 1/4 of the tofu, and a handful of cherry tomatoes. Chop and add a half an avocado, squeeze on the juice of half a lemon and a splash of Bragg's with each bowl.

YUM. Seriously.

a few little things

Put an animal on something and I am almost guaranteed to like it. This little pillow caught my eye while window shopping (at Attica, on Barrington Street in Halifax, for those who may be in this neighbourhood). Below are some others that I also really love:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 

beachy clothes

When I was a teenager, Roxy seemed to be just the coolest brand. I remember ages ago hearing that Quiksilver was launching a women's line separate from Roxy that was going to be a little more grown-up, but hadn't run into it in stores...until last weekend! Beach-inspired, casual, and...EVERYTHING on sale online, with free shipping to Canada and the U.S. right now. Tons of deals! These are my faves:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

...I have seen in person (ahem, purchased) 1, 2, and 3 (the bathing suit in the same pattern, but different style) and I'm in love with them.

word art d.i.y.

Although no longer available, I love this ikat-inspired print by Etsy shop ChrislovesJulia:

This print is where I took the inspiration for the background of my piece, which I painted on a canvas board using acrylic paints, in a few layers, blending the colours. After the paint was dry, I took some time hunting down a quote that I guessed would fit the size of my canvas, and then laid out the letters (1 inch permanent adhesive vinyl letters from Michael's). I had to improvise 3 or 4 H's out of pieces of other letters. You may want to count your letters beforehand to make sure that your package has enough of what you need, unless your estimation skills are better than mine.

As you can see in the photo below, I used washi tape to lay out lines to keep my letters straight, and in the top right corner you can see two vertical strips that I reused between words to keep the spacing relatively even. The obsessive compulsivist in me had a lot of fun with the project. For reals.

If you're looking for some quote ideas, I would suggest Ernest Hemingway, E.E. Cummings, Roald Dahl, or Dr. Seuss. My quote is by Albert Einstein who, not surprisingly, had many witty things to say.

five dollar art

I have been waiting and waiting for this to come in the mail! The print above is a wallpaper sample from Hygge & West, designed by Joy Cho who writes the blog, Oh Joy, one of my daily reads. I am a long way off of having my own place to wallpaper, but I love the ivory and gold peony pattern, and now I can add it to my apartment anyway.
Hygge & West charge $5.00 for an 8.5 x 11 inch wallpaper sample, and they ship for free!
Here is the design I chose, called Petal Pusher, but there are lots of other interesting ones, too. The frame is from Michael's.