Woohoo! So life is going pretty well for me right now. :) I've been keeping to my goal of trying to incorporate more artsy, girly activities in my life (to counter-balance the boring tech job that I'm so fortunate to have - money talks!)... So I've been helping to make lanterns for the lumiere festival, and so far it's been going very well. I've been building symbols to represent quintessence (the fifth element) as this year's theme is the elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Quintessence). The fifth element represents (in the eyes of the Lumiere Festival creators) the 'magic' that holds everything together, drawing people in and making the event a wonderful success. :)The lanterns themselves are made out of bamboo (taken from dissected bamboo blinds) and tissue paper, with a mixture of water and glue which serves to tighten the paper so it's smooth, while making it flame retardant. The girl who runs it is hoping to have 2000 lanterns done in time for the festival, and so far we have about 500. I'm actually quite curious to see how we'll do this considering the fact only about 7 or 8 volunteers showed up last time, and the first day, I was the only one besides the two organizers who showed.
I guess we meet throughout July as well, and we also will have the public come in to make jar lanterns with the kids and paper lanterns themselves, but I believe they take those lanterns home and bring them back to carry through the festival.
Anyway, so that's an exciting event that I'm really looking forward to this year. In addition to the lanter part of it, people also dress up. Jenelle, if you read this, you'll know that it's one of my favorite guilty pleasures, ha ha. :) Any excuse to get into some wacky costume is welcomed in my life... :)
The other thing I've been helping with is the Maple Lawn Gardens. Basically, it's two or three hours on sunny Sunday mornings, spent surrounded by plants, flowers, and people who love plants and flowers, which I think is wonderful. It's so nice to hear people talking about the garden with so much knowledge and passion. :) Finally people who understand me! Ha ha! :)
There are other things I was hoping to 'inject' into my monthly routine, but it's been a bit of a challenge to squeeze them in. One thing was shopping for all our food at the farmer's market in Ottawa. I had hoped to start a spin-off blog with recipes and traditions for preparing our locally available food. I still might do that one of these days, but I find right now, by the time I manage to leave the garden at noon on Sundays, I'm covered in dirt and mud and am looking forward to lunch, so the idea of driving downtown to the stadium where the market is kind of goes out the window. I also want to go berry picking sometime soon (before they're all gone!) but I'm not sure when the next available weekend will be for that...
In the mean time, I'm going to try to add one special thing to my routine that has nothing to do with eating (hard to believe but it's true)... I went to see the Sex in the City movie on the weekend, and while I do find that "Kerry" needs to do something with her hair, wanders around with some of the most hideous clothing on, and uses a cell phone that is duct taped together, every so often she (or more-so her friends) had some awesome shoes and accessories and outfits on! That kind of grabbed my lesser-exercised fashion-loving side by the ear and gave it a good shake. So yesterday I headed down to the byward market, where all the trendy boutiques with local (and some more prominent) designer clothing, and found myself in heaven (just like last time I was there at xmas). I found shoes that are incredibly similar to the blue pumps that Kerry apparently spent $525 on in the movie, for $59... :) I found a sweet little grey satin dress with black lace ribbon around the waist for $59, I found an uber trendy white patent purse for - you guessed it - $59!! All this was found in my favorite little boutique 'frou frou' (I hate the name though, makes me think of little old French ladies but anyway). I also found a neat store called Karma, that makes their clothing from recycled rubber and canvas, as well as from natural like bamboo, salvaged wood, etc. There's also a designer knits store somewhere that I haven't managed to find yet, and of course there are many other little boutiques, each with its own treasures for your home, your wardrobe, or just for fun. :) So I'm hoping to start going there, one day a month, grabbing myself a yummy coffee and strolling through to see what deals I can find. SUPER fun. :)
So that's all for now I guess - keeping busy, and happy (finally!)
xoxo





S

(Some Karma clothes!)