food things

Apologies for my absence. I've been traveling and working a full time job so just a quick post about food related things. First, I've been mixing teas in a big pot and drinking lots of it, 'cos ya know, winter. I particularly like this ginger and jasmine combo. I've also been finding new vegetarian recipes to try because I've altered my dietary habits once again. I felt that I was consuming too much meat, even though it was often local meats, so I'm on a meat hiatus indefinitely. 

I'm a big fan of this Lentil Loaf recipe I found from the Simple Veganista. I also finally tried out this "Cauliflower Wings" recipe at a party and it was well received. Lastly, my friend shared with me her Chili Lime popcorn recipe that makes a great snack. 

Ingredients:

2 tsp coconut oil

1/4 cup of popping corn

1 tsp of melted margarine/butter/vegan margarine

1 tsp of lime juice

1/4 tsp of chili flakes

Directions:

Pop the popcorn in a pot with the coconut oil and popping corn until all kernels are popped. Melt the margarine/butter/vegan margarine with lime juice and chili flakes and pour over popcorn, then toss. Enjoy!

playlist: give me a beat

Give Me A Beat from l.doan on 8tracks Radio.

watches

I was on the search for a new watch to replace my Cold Picnic (IV) watch (purchased from Of A Kind) because it stopped working all of a sudden (yes, I replaced the battery recently). I was looking at Olivia Burton (I) , The Horse (II), and Daniel Wellington (III) watches, but I ended up getting a Daniel Wellington Watch, mostly because I was perusing Instagram during my stopover on my flight home from Toronto, and one of my favourite bloggers posted a discount code for DW, so I got a great deal on the watch. If this weren't the case, it would be a hard choice deciding between Olivia Burton watches and The Horse watches because they had a more affordable price point. Olivia Burton has some really nice floral & animal watches with lots of colour options. Meanwhile, The Horse is the definition of minimal and classic. Daniel Wellington has both minimal, classic, and colour choices because they sell different watch bands for accessorizing options, so best of both worlds!

playlist: aut no. 3

Aut no. 3 from l.doan on 8tracks Radio.

knitting

I've been knitting a lot lately. This year I've advanced beyond scarves. I'm also trying to make gifts for people for this upcoming holiday season. Here are some of the things I've knit and the patterns I used.

1 | 2 | 3

Impressed App

I ordered some prints using the Impressed App. And I really, really love the prints. They are so high quality. The Deco prints came on a thick card stock and the photo book came with high quality prints on really nice paper. I will definitely be ordering from them again. Bonus, the company is Canadian and the products ship from Toronto. The price point is good too, considering the quality. I've used other apps to order prints from before (Social Print Studio) and Impressed App proves to be superior. Impressed App uses images from Instagram, Facebook, and Dropbox. I think my only complaint is that it would be easier to edit the layout on a browser, because it took a bit of time figure out how to use the app. 

wandering to: cape breton

wishlist: bags

Madewell | Piprobins | Bookhou

adventuring

playlist: water

Water from l.doan on 8tracks Radio.

Tracklist:
1. Patrick Watson - Man Under The Sea
2. Bahamas - Waves
3. Vetiver - Rolling Sea
4. Loudon Wainwright IIII - The Swimming Song
5. Grizzly Bear - Deep Blue Sea
6. Blitzen Trapper - Lady On The Water
7. Johnny Flynn feat. Laura Marling - The Water
8. The Bravery - The Ocean
9. Patrick Watson - Lighthouse
10. Phosphorescent - The Waves At Night

summer days

I've been bad at posting lately because I'm trying to take in the last days of summer. These are some of the things I've been up to lately. 

wandering to New Hampshire

style game: MEC

I recently went to Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) to purchase some panniers for my bicycle, and I noticed that they have since up their style game since I last paid them a visit. Their latest line of vintage-inspired backpacks are so lovely. I think they really nailed it style-wise.

cold brew coffee

I've been drinking a lot of iced coffee lately, and it's starting to add up so... I decided to make my own. Apparently it's really simple. You just need a french press and some ground coffee. The proportions is one spoon per cup of coffee, or more depending how strong you like your coffee. You just stick it in a French press overnight and it's ready the next day! The nice thing about cold brew is that the flavour is less bitter because heat is what causes the bitterness of hot coffee.

My favourite coffee beans are from:

• Laughing Whale
• North Mountain Fine Coffees
• Java Blend 

d.i.y. terrariums

My latest hobby is building succulent terrariums. I love succulents because they are really hard to kill. You only need to water them every 2 weeks or so, and since they are in terrariums, they need less water. I got these cool glass terrariums at Chapters. They were 50% off and then I ran into my friend who had an employee discount for an additional 30%, so I got a great deal!

Materials:

• Glass container 
• Succulents
• Cactus soil
• Rocks
• Activated charcoal
• Moss

You can find a glass container anywhere, but I always see neat ones at thrift stores. Succulents and cactus soil can be purchased at any home/hardware store with a garden section. The activated charcoal, rocks, and moss were purchased at the pet store. The charcoal & rocks can be found in the fish section and the moss in the reptiles section.

Instructions:

1. Put down a layer of rocks. Put a thinner layers in more shallow tanks. This will help with drainage.

2. Next, put down a thin layer of activated charcoal.

3. Add cactus soil, leaving dug out sections for planting the succulents.

4. Add moss, for decoration. This step is optional. Alternately, you can add rocks. If you really wanna get fancy, you can add figurines. I'm still looking for the perfect sized dinosaur to stick in one of the containers.

5. Water! Apparently you're supposed to fertilize your succulents during the summer months (May-September). And only water sparingly. I use a spray bottle. Succulents don't need much water and the terrariums are somewhat enclosed environments that trap moisture. Plants need air to grow, so every once in a while, I'll take the lid off the enclosed container. 

society6

I started selling of my stuff on society6! So head on over if you're looking for prints or a new phone case. I haven't really done much with it yet, so keep a lookout for new things in the future.

playlist: R1, throwback jams

I've been running a lot lately and also listening to a lot of throwback jams, so it only seemed like a good idea to compile an 8tracks playlist. I plan to make a couple more themed running playlists in the future, so keep your ears open.

R1 from l.doan on 8tracks Radio.

Track listing:
1. 112 feat. The Notorious B.I.G. & Mase - Only You (Bad Boy remix)
2. Mary J. Blige - Family Affair
3. Blackstreet - No Diggity
4. Ginuwine - Pony
5. Mariah Carey feat. Puff Daddy, Mase, & The Lox - Honey (Bad Boy remix)
6. Mya feat. Wyclef Jean - Ghetto Superstar
7. Destiny's Child feat. Wyclef Jean - No No No Part 2
8. Mase feat. Mya - All I Ever Wanted
9. Montell Jordan feat. LL Cool J - Get It On Tonight (remix)
10. TLC - Creep

style obsession: birkenstocks

Image sources: 1 | 2 | 3

Birkenstocks & Birkenstock inspired shoes are so in style this year. I noticed that designers have been designing Birkenstock inspired shoes (top/middle/bottom). However, I'm an advocate of the original Birkenstock brand because they are one of the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. It also seems like they've partnered with companies like Urban Outfitters and Free People to sell different styles than your usual Gizehs or Arizonas. 

d.i.y. new home decor things

I've been doing some more decorating around my apartment and taking down some old things. I really love this world map project, which you can read about on one of my favourite blogs, Treasures & Travels. 

The entire cost of the project was less than $25. I got the poster printed at the large format printer at my university, so it was $18 for a 3x2 ft poster. Then a few bucks for some embroidery floss and and pushpins. It might have been smart for me to put some cork board behind the poster to make it easier to push in the pins and cause less wall damage. 

The other thing is I did was nail this branch to the wall and hung some paper cranes off it. One day I was walking to work and there was this tree branch right in the middle of the sidewalk, so the most sensical thing to do was to take it home. I was going to spray paint it, but never got around to it. I kinda like it au naturel.