[i] LoveLife

Hither + thither.

[This is a beautiful photo for a phone shot. It's Eastern Saskatchewan last night. It dreamy and painterly and amazing.]

What a great weekend. I feel like I've been everywhere. I headed West to Alberta for an amazing and quick trip to the beautiful city of Edmonton. Mostly just to hit up IKEA for some things for house90 that can't be shipped (darn you IKEA!). Edmonton - you rock! Then I whizzed back and picked up Dan and the girls so we could head East to hang with relatives and bond on a rainy day in the country. So much fun. Weekends like this - when the girls are laughing and the conversation is flowing - is just a great place to be. No matter where we are.

It's been raining for a long time around here. And back at home in Winnipeg - I am hearing about storms and floods and all kinds of things that we can do nothing about. Ick. I am hoping for a dry basement and speedy drywalling. I am anxious to hear that they have started painting and laying the floors and speeding along to welcome us back into a new and happy AND DRY space.

LAST DAY OF MAY!! See ya later May - you've been fun and stressful. Don't get me wrong you've brought some travel, some change and some awesomeness. Fullness. And future. SO MUCH GOOD. I am ever grateful. And I am also super pleased to see you go. Bring in June when we finally come home.

Today: Dan flies home today and we're spending the day hiding out from the rain, being a family and counting down the days until we're all at house90 together. Soon. Rain, rain go away!

GO!

Perfect times two.

Two quick pieces of perfection:

1. A concrete Norman? I would love this.

2. A mama-et-mama overnight trip is in the works and I can't wait. Me and my pal Cheryl are heading on a quick, inspirational trip out west for the night to hang out, shop a bit and get a breather. (Thanks BabaLuba and Grandpa Ken for making this possible.) I am looking for a couple of great ideas for house90 and if there's a great antique store I should visit while in Edmonton GIVE ME A HOLLER.

Today: vanilla lattes and winding highways and hotel beds and NO CRYING AT NIGHT. If Cheryl starts sobbing I'm gonna punch her.

Three cheers to friends and mama-et-mama getaways no matter how short.

GO!

Inspiring me. PART02.

I am like a dog with a bone when it comes to finding, tracking and attaining my goals. I have this vision for house90 that is sort of monopolizing my brain power these days because idle hands are the devils playground... or something like that. It's sort of all encompassing. But, whatever. That's how I roll. If you saw Normie with a chew toy you would understand. I. HAVE. A. ONE. TRACK. MIND. Anyways. This is another batch of things that are inspiring me right now.

TOLIX STOOLS. These sexy stools have captured my imagination and heart. I just love them. I love the designer Xavier Pauchard. I love 1934. I love the colour. I do not love the price tag - so I am scouring the internet for the most affordable and height-perfect option for my counterheight island. I figured out my lighting dilemma without getting outside shipping help (I scrapped the pendants)... but I might take the hand in getting these babies to me. They are my soul mates. (I have a thing for chairs.)

BUDMO JIGGLER. I love this font right now. Life is a little upside down here and I love this circus-style sign font.

COPY CAT BITCHES. I was wandering the internet the other day and I came across this COPY CAT BITCHES post that made me smile and nod. And then nod again. And then HELL YA. This is such a frustrating part of being an artist and also a blogger. BUT. I love what she said and mostly I love the spark behind it. I love that it resonated with me so strongly that my bulletproof positive attitude jumped to attention and triple arm pumped with a side of high five. Inspirational fire. FO SHO. Love it.

Speaking of Bulletproof Positive Attitude: It's coming in August and it's awesome.

Today: We're walking. It's supposed to be a wee bit sunny. And by sunny I mean NOT POURING RAIN so we must burn some small people and crazy dog energy somewhere. I'm not sure of any other way to shake these blues. Except maybe with those stools.  ;)

GO!

You with me?

Hi Tuesday. I'm tired. Truthfully, I'm a wee bit more disappointed with myself every day. I'm not exercising. I'm not making good food choices. I'm letting myself down with the little life decisions that never seem very big individually - but add up quickly. I'm eating too much. Saying too little. Wanting too many. Not doing enough. It goes on. It's pure silliness. This 'vacation mentality' isn't working for me.

Today: is a new day. I'm making my lists and picking up and few of the things that I need to have with me to get real with myself. Starting with some runners. And a call to the pilates studio (is there a pilates studio around here??) And maybe a sketchbook. And some journalling. And a pass to library story time. And some bubbles. And gluten-free snacks so that I'm not tempted to eat my body weight in chocolate because that is very bad. Even though it tastes very good.

Tomorrow is a fresh start (but I'm going to start today). You with me? GO!

Inspiring me. PART01.

Hi Monday. It's a holiday in Canada, but since it's raining (again) and all my days are "loosely" organized - everyday feels like a holiday right now. I'm SUPER excited to be back in the land of speedy wireless internet and I've been loving all my extra reading material as I slowly catch up with my favourite blogs. And online shopping. Last week some of my favourite bloggers were posting what was inspiring them these days... and that got me thinking about what I've been loving lately. In a few parts. This part is house90 stuff... the chairs. Oh, I have a thing for chairs. And for straight lines. And industrial design stools. And anything with wings (aren't they the sweetest little espresso mugs?). And wood grain in grey. And my new sink, faucet and range hood. Mmmmmmm. As the structural stuff comes to a close at the house - the aesthetic part starts and the decisions for the "looky stuff" are nearly decided. Fun. I like design that's fun. I don't take my decor too seriously. I don't. I'm not elegant or classic. I'm definitely not sophisticated or traditional. I've decided that my style is more of a 'haphazard clean eclectic'. Actually - Tammy added the 'eclectic' part, but I LIKE IT. 

May is almost over. YES!

Today: Dan flew in to spend the weekend with us and it was so great. I have a triple appreciation for military families. We're just better TOGETHER and that's why it sucks to have to take him to the airport this afternoon. We will see him soon, but in the mean time I will miss him.

I need stronger coffee. GO!

Limbo.

Oh, internet. I've just spent a good part of the napping day catching up on blogs and research and generally just sitting and smilng and clicking around on the interweb. I heart the internet and I am very happy to be within range of a strong wireless signal. Oh, love. Oh, dear. Oh, man. They tell me there's about a month to go until house90 is complete and the smart part of my brain is chilling and smiling and happy about the giant intermission in our life where we get to just hang with family and play at the beach and eat up living the 'good life'. The not as brilliant part of my brain had a frustrating day yesterday being really pissy about the fact that just about everything I tried to do was not working. And all I really wanted to do was to be in my own space painting. Starbucks was out of soy for my latte. Lululemon didn't have the jacket that I wanted to break my buying boycott. I couldn't find or accomplish anything I set out to do. Even the red lights were against me.

AND SO IT GOES. Going and going. Nothing a little glass of red wine couldn't soothe. Just a bad day in paradise, I guess. I will chalk it up to a blip in the goodness radar. Booo.

Today: I don't know. Swimming, playing, snacking. In between all the goodness I am going to be scouring the internet for my dream sink and whining away about not being able to paint. OH. AND DAN IS FLYING IN TONIGHT. Goodness everywhere. And more updates on house90 soon.

GO!

Must be good if your arrival is marked by a rainbow.

On the road again.

We are deep into a long road trip. 650 miles today. I love the rolling prairies. (I also love a DVD player in the back seat.) I'm a day away from some good, solid blogging. Yes.

Girls + dogs forever.

All done!

And that was that. What a cool honour to be a keynote at such an amazing conference for the arts. Go creativity! Three cheers for the folks that get how important it is to love art.

In any form.

At the concert hall.

Getting ready for the morning.