This is how the month started...with a madman (my father) ringing in the new year with the annual bottling of horseradish. The fumes were redolent of tear gas and love.

Due to the new year’s double bitch-slap of cold and post-holiday poverty, we’ve been eating a lot of pho to keep warm. It costs just $8 for a bathtub full of awesomeness. Near our most favorite pho restaurant, there is a Sherwin Williams store whose logo caught our eye one night…Sherwin Williams and I go way back, as my last job involved my having to understand their paint tinting systems, so I was familiar with most of the branding – BUT NOT THIS. Good god, who the hell approved this logo for public release!?

There are no words...

So yes, the weather’s been cold, ’cause, you know, it was JANUARY, so when we haven’t been lighting our inner fires with Richard’s Excellent Horseradish, we have been huddling together for warmth.

Rama and Mr. Rooth

Here’s further proof that January was here:

Necessary footware - finally acquired. DIG MY BADASS SNOWSHOES, BABY! (also, dig my wooly socks. *hot*)

The view on my commute one snowy day. I sat looking at this for a good 25 mins, waiting for stupid people to stop doing stupid things.

The pier at Lakeside Park on a VERY cold day

Because of the cold, and my general state of panic, worry and irritation with certain daily, 9 to 5 endeavors, a lot depressurizing was done in my studio, working on new ideas, putting my 3rd Etsyversary sale together (total success – thanks to everyone who supported my little shop! *love*), and most importantly, working on a beautiful head piece for a beautiful friend of mine, who is getting married this Friday in Costa Rica. This project was so much fun, and such a good challenge that I felt that it became a good omen for the rest of the year for AD, and without it, I surely would’ve gone mad (instead of merely getting mad, which I seemed to do a lot this month. But let’s move on, shall we?)

A pretty for Louise! Using fine silver laurel leaves, big fat f/w pearls, slinky, white hackle feathers, clear Swarovski AB crystals and sterling silver wire, it had a flexible, hair-pin style tail that would allow it to be fastened into Louise's hair regardless of how she was going to wear it. She loved it, and I swear my heart grew 3 sizes the day that I delivered it - I was so thrilled that she loved it as much as I did.

For size reference. The hackle feathers are hardly visible, but there were 3 or 4 of them, wispily framing the whole piece. Louise's dress had a glamorous, vintage feel, and we wanted this piece to pick up on that vibe, be easy to wear, and look striking against her glossy brown hair.

Apparently we did – ’cause now it’s Feb. The hell….?

So today is Groundhog day – and according to our national rodent demi-gods, an early spring is imminent. We were also buried under about a foot of snow today…fitting timing for the announcement of spring.

I better hop to it and get as much snowshoeing time in as possible…and March better not freaking show up before I’m good and ready for it.

2010 was…was? It’s over? WTF? Obviously I’ve been really *aware* lately…I haven’t been able to come up with random things to talk about here, I’ve all but dropped out of the Twitter and FB scenes and I’ve barely made anything in months. Except for a new home. At least I have that to show for all of my recent hermitty-ness.

I don’t want to get into rehashing the move, or ‘the year in review’ or my plans for 2011 or how much things are great/annoying/exciting/exhausting, so I’ve decided that this first post of the new year will consist of nothing more than a list, some pix and maybe a few captions. Besides, I’ve got to get to bed sooner than later.

First I’m going to get my tea, so you just hold on a tic.

The List (and the photographic evidence) or, Everything of Note that Happened in 2010.

(super-duper awesomesauce experiences are denoted by ‘bucket list’ status.)

- I cooked Beef Bourgignon out of Julia Child’s cookbook. Worth every step. (bucket list)

- Part-time contract extended into full-time contract

- I turned 34, had a party at the pub, and goofed around on a killer fun weekend in Ottawa with D and family and sat at Le Nordik in the falling snow.

Attractive photo, I know.

I love this pic so much my eyes hurt looking at it.

- I studied with the divine Mira Betz and had my mind blown (and my quads reduced to ashes) (bucket list)

I am seconds away from shooting rainbows out of my eyes when this was taken. I will never ever forget the roar from the crowd when we finished this number.

- I danced with Maya Fire on the main stage at the International BellyDance Conference of Canada (bucket list)

- Field and I roadtripped to Windsor to dance duets at the For the Love of Isis show, and it was my favorite performance of the year. And my pantaloons fell down while we were dancing. Awesome.

No pantaloons were dropped in the making of this photo

- Mr. and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary (bucket list worthy because being married to him is awesomesauce.)

We complete each other (*bursts into manic laughter*)

- Our beloved little man Nova passed away at the honorable age of 16 cat years and joined his fur-brother Boss (who left us in Nov. 09) in the Better Place (eyes are tearing up typing this.) They were and always will be two of my very best friends.

I miss him so much.

- I made my first pair of pantaloons, in silk no less. Somewhere around here I realized I didn’t totally suck at zilling either. Win.

- We were neatly snared by the charms of  two little boys named Rama and Bear and we suddenly became cat-parents again. They have helped heal our broken hearts and have filled the house with kitten-induced madness. I stupidlove them.

"No, we weren't being bad. Not at all. Now why don't you leave the room?"

- I actually enjoyed Canada Day, for the first time in years.

- Mr. turned 35!

- After a 5 year hiatus, I had my passport renewed so that I could head to Buffalo to dance at The Buffalo Infringement Festival, which was a riot.

- We had a vegetable garden again. It produced very little, but was still somehow enjoyable.

Ha ha, stupid deer! I got to them first!!!

This is my favorite pic of me from this year. I think. That was a crazy fun show.

- I lost 12 pounds while enjoying a summer of eating bbq streetmeat and gelato every Friday evening whilst hanging with Mr. and reading comix at Lakeside park. Best. Cheap. Date. Ever.

I just love this pic. I love his hands. End of story.

Friday evening at Lakeside park - any given summer Friday...

- Finally (FINALLY!) took a floral design course. Not surprisingly, I LOVED IT THE MOSTEST FOR REALS. Wish I had done it sooner. It was the best possible way to spend my Sunday mornings since…sleeping in.

Ok, so when you get to play with this many roses on a Sunday morning, how could you think that your life was anything other than awesome?!

My ATS dance lineage, in one shiny happy photo!

- Roadtripped to Michigan with the Mighty V and members of Maya Fire to participate in the Sacred Circles dance retreat, where I met and studied with the extraordinary Carolena Nericcio. It was the funnest long weekend of the year and it completely rejuvenated me body and soul (as did the bottle of whisky and the massage that I had) (bucket list)

Serious nerves before this show, but we pulled it off.

"I'll see you in hell, bottle of whisky!"

- A short 2 weeks later, performed for and studied with Carolena again at the ATS Workshop held on our home turf. Met new people so cool that I’m not sure how I got on this long without them.

So so so so so so so happy. I love both of these women, and they have both deeply impacted my life.

Some of the greatest women I know - and they can all shake it, baby.

- One month later, with our entire life packed into boxes, we moved from our high-rise home of 10+ years into a two-story wonderment of space, light and possibility. It couldn’t feel like home more. Now, if I could only find my rolling pin/hair brush/croix de sud necklace/metallic kitten heels/studio tools/brain/etc/etc….(bucket list – or just very long awaited)

The day we picked up the keys. I jumpysquealyclapped when I saw the floor.

- Our move brought a very important detail to light. Our friends are fucking amazing. I am overwhelmed by their awesomeness, and we are so damn lucky to have each and every one of them in our lives.

- On Dec. 31, I celebrated the completion of my New Year’s resolution which was to do yoga every single day. And I did. And I still am.

Mr. Yogacat and I enjoying a little mat-time together

- Celebrated Christmas in our new home. Took our traditional Christmas Eve Scotch Walk across a new bridge and toasted all of the above, and everything to come.

Though they claim that their jewelry is ‘hand crafted by artisans’, these companies manufacture (yes, manufacture) most of their jewelry in places like Mexico and China, and while the designs were often created by the people who own or direct the company, the pieces are produced en mass by poorly-paid crafts people…one can only assume women and children because they have smaller hands to do delicate work. I say assume because I just don’t know, and can’t confirm who the acting jewelry-making workforce for these companies is, mostly because they refuse to be transparent about their manufacturing. There is generally next to no information about it on their website, and on the web generally the links you will find are for the independent sales reps. However, if you spend any time in the Etsy forums, you will find nothing but pages and pages of artisans ranting about these kinds of companies trying to sell on Etsy, ebay and in community shows and how Etsians can’t stand their constant misrepresentation of the term ‘handmade’.

I did a holiday craft-show-from-hell last November and part of the ‘from hell’ bit was that I was stuck next to a shitty, smelly vintage reseller who way overstepped their booth limits and blew some of my visibility, and the fact that there was a Steamy-Latin-Dance-Step rep there making tons of sales hand over fist for ‘hand-made’ mass-produced jewelry…at an event that was being advertised as a Hand Made Craft and Design holiday sale! I tore a strip off the show organizers for allowing them in…they said that they just assumed that in their case ‘handmade by crafted artisans’ was true…even though they had met the sales rep at the show, not the actual crafted artisan. How much of a bigger hint does a person need? And I’m not gonna lie here; I was fucking jealous of the sales that rep was getting, which made me wicked mad at myself for being jealous. Two big fat negative emotions plus a super-crappy craft show equals a good time had by all…

Do not identify with this picture, repeat, do NOT identify with this picture. Do NOT be the human equivalent of clip-art...

This brings me to the point that I guess I take more to heart, selfish being that I am. These companies tout their mass produced goods as handmade, when they aren’t, and they charge a pretty penny for them to support the pyramid scheme that is their marketing system. And they always do well at parties, shows, etc, because people see the pieces as functional, pretty, unique etc…even when they are seeing that piece on someone else who wears it, or in a catalog. That’s fine. Buy what you like, and if what you like is dictated somehow by forces outside of you, then maybe you need to try harder, Homer. This mindless consumption (meaning: not thinking about the process it takes to bring something into being) fuels entities like Steamy-Latin-Dance-Step, fuels ‘sameness’ and conformity and general boringness and a normalized a lack of respect for art and the artist. It directly hurts the handmade movement that I am a part of. I dedicate an insane amount of time, energy and spirit into my craft, which truly is handmade. Steamy-Latin-Dance-Step isn’t handmade by artisans. It’s made, partially by hand, possibly by people who have no choice or care in the matter of whether it gets made or not, over and over and over and over again.
What I find beyond creepy is that there is absolutely no information out there (that I have been able to find, and I consider myself a pretty resourceful finder of information) that states ‘where’ the jewelry is made. As a craftsperson, I am VERY proud to advertise that I am the person who makes this jewelry, here in Canada, with my own two hands, brain and heart. Any company that isn’t making that kind of information readily available to the public has something to hide. Whether that’s a big thing or a small thing is up to you, but to me, it’s a big thing. I want transparency. I don’t want to wear jewelry on myself that has been made by hands that didn’t want to make it. That’s it.

I am happy(ish) to be transparent myself. I am by no means innocent of buying less-than-equal products, I shop several times a year at Walmart to buy the one cut of jeans that actually fits my ass and my waist at the same time, or the 900 lbs of kitty litter for $3 when my wallet has only moths in it…I hang-headedly admit it. Cheap-ass, totally inethical Walmart sometimes makes my life easier…probably at the expense of making someone else’s a little harder. Which sucks to me. Hell, I work for companies that do or buy ALL of their manufacturing and inventory overseas. “Made in …” is written on everyone of those things…if it isn’t, the web or the company or someone will tell you where it was made.
It bugs me that these jewelry company sales reps don’t themselves know where the pieces are made. This is a common joke on the Etsy forums: “Ask the sales rep where the pieces are made. They can’t answer you.” If you’re ever at a home party, I ask you to try it, just for shits and giggles. Why don’t they just proudly say where it was made, especially if it’s handmade by artisans? Seriously, why? The artisans themselves would want people to know…well, I would want people to know.
Allow me a “Barts People” moment here (btw, I love you if you get that reference):
I imagine a girl in a “Made in…” country might really love making things with her hands like I do, and might one day find herself in a situation where she would get to do that all day, and even get a bit of money for it, in a kind-of-ok environment. And she would do it because it kinda beats the alternatives by a long-shot, and because money really helps make life easier. And I imagine that after being a faceless-brilliant-just-getting-by-jewelry-maker for a few years, knowing your work was undoubtably being enjoyed by someone out there, but never hearing thank-you, or wow, or i-really-want-this, never actually knowing, would eventually make me want to die.
And I just started crying typing that sentence. Obviously, I’m worked up about this.
Buy what you want to buy, and know what you want to know. Awesome things can happen if you combine the possibilities of both.
Please help support handmade. It brings respect and energy to people who actually make things that we all need with their love and their hands, which in turn makes the movement stronger and more widely respected, enveloping and supporting more and more craftspeople into sustainable, creative lives.  It’s not a fucking pipe-dream, it does actually work this way, but you actually have to make the choice to support it however you can, whenever you can.
End of ‘Bart’s People’ moment. Thanks for reading and feeling however you are feeling about what I just wrote. And Mom, I hope you’ll still invite me to things…

At this point I’m just going to be honest and say “I have no frikken idea what to post about.” I have blog-block. I have pseudo-performance anxiety. I have had next to no spare time, my life has served me a series of hugs and bitch-slaps, I have a deep need to stay the f**k away from my computer on weekends, I have too many excuses…

Screw it…the best thing for me to do is to repress the rising feeling of blog-barf itching in my fingertips, ignore the assumed need to write about every last thing that has happened to me in that last 6 months and instead focus on something succinct, creative, concrete…and a bit geeky-exciting…well, for me…First off, a confession: I have had a quiet yet BURNING need to learn how to make pretty flowers even prettier. This has been a whole-life thing. I have told very few people about this…well, before now, and it’s been high on the ‘me wantee’ list of my life since I was about 8…probably earlier. I was constantly attempting high art made of flowers throughout my teen years, and into my 20′s, but lacking the technical know-how, my well-thought out masterpieces would fall short in the ‘artistic’ department; think weeds and wildflowers plunked into a hollowed-out pumpkin at Thanksgiving, etc, etc…
But still…the preoccupation…

I find flower shops insanely soothing…the cool, humid, fresh smell is a brain tonic, the colours and textures of the flowers and greenery set my hands humming the same way my jewelry bench does. I have spent way too many hours drooling over the posts of blogs like Saipua, often over my lunch-break at work…I cannot fight the urge any longer….I’M GOING TO FLOWER SCHOOL!!!

I start in September, taking a simple class every Sunday morning from 9 til noon…flower school will become my new church…surely so much more inspiring and uplifting than any church ever was or could ever be to me. I am obviously beyond excited…geek that I am.

I’ve been enabling this flower-lust a little bit this summer, as I mulled over the decision to enroll (I constantly over-analyze the spending of dollars on something like this…it’s something I dearly want to do, but as I can’t quiet yet decide how it’s going to fit into my future-life as an artist – meaning ‘will I make money doing this?’- I spend a lot of time waffling over whether I should do it or not. It’s a totally sucky, bureaucratic brain process that is currently under revision…’cause it generally sucks the fun out of things…you know, like life…) I’ve been documenting too…here is some evidence of a growing preoccupation…

My Dad made this little arrangement for my bedroom when I was visiting in May. The colours had me smitten...

Don't you want ALL of these, right now? I do. I wanted to steal them all, I would've had an armful of them. My mother-in-law has some crazy gardening abilities, and these cosmos prove it. I couldn't love cosmos more if I tried. Seriously.

We had a dinner invitation with dear friends early in the month, and I very much wanted to bring Maria some flowers...and I very much wanted to arrange them myself - partially to see if I could, and partially because I thought it would a nice way to decompress after a stressful workday. I bought two store bouquets and decided to rebuild, being a bit more selective and daring with choice and structure than I usually am. These photos are mostly detail shots of various parts of the bouquet, the first is an overall shot. I was reasonably pleased with the results, and had fun putting it together, even though I was convinced that I 'didn't know how'. The lovely Maria smiled from ear to ear, which was even prettier than the flowers, and just as satisfying. I was feeling pretty hooked at this point...

August 14th is my parents' wedding anniversary, and this year our awesome friends T & S got married on the same day

A sweet and lovely backyard wedding, so reminiscent of our own wedding 3 years ago, was filled with handmade touches and relaxing textures. I was particularly fond of the flower arrangements, done by S's sister with flowers purchased that morning from the farmer's market. They were simply arranged with raffia in mason jars, and sat strikingly on burlap table runners. The bride's bouquet was simple and so romantic...all of it was dreamy. Congrats you two.

I love the combination of the burlap, the mason jars and the market flowers.

Love. That is all.

I think this is a strawflower. It should be renamed the 'the soul-cleansing sunburst flower'. Who do I talk to about renaming flowers more appropriately?

I want to say dalia, but I'm not sure. I would rename it the 'prom dress' flower. You couldn't possibly imagine how utterly orange this bloom was...it was eye-popping.

Pretty, yes? Can you understand why I’m so inspired…inspired to the point of not being able to think about what to blog about? See?
I promise to document what I produce in Flower School, as I’m interested in seeing the ‘evolution’ from the silliness that I’ve recently produced, and the more finessed creations that lie before me. I also promise to blog sooner than 6 months from now.
Promises, promises…

I have decided that instead of rehashing the trials of the past 2.5 months, it’s just best to look forward to the awesomeness that is now and to come. In short, here’s what has happened: a death, a breakdown, a resignation, a new job, reconnections, a rest, a holiday, a new commitment, and January.

See? That was easy!

(oh wow, I wish the 2 and a half months could’ve been, seriously…)

I have a new job, which is awesome. I am beyond thankful. Antoinette Design has taken a back-seat to the rest of my life for the past while, and while I miss it enormously, I’m sure at some point I will note that the break was a good thing. I have been working on a lot of designs and directions in my brain while I push a mouse all day…and I read a lot of blogs on my lunch break, which really inspire me.

In the spirit of some of my recent lunchtime reading, I’ve decided to post some recent inspiration…in the form of a rosy outlook. Part of the sweetness of my job is my commute…yeah, I know. Insanity-speak. I drive through country fields on two-lane roads, with little to no traffic and killer playlists. Seriously, it’s awesome…especially in the evening, when the sun is setting and the big sky is filled with those insane, spectral hues that are only visible on a winter’s evening. I have started to carry my camera with me, surreptitiously snapping pix while I’m stopped at lights, trying to capture even just a fraction of how beautiful the sunset is almost every night. I’m continually bowled over by the pinks…they seem so rare and fleeting in the winter landscape’s palette, that when I see them I want to drink them in with my eyes…I want to drown my brain in them. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t made any jewelry lately, because I have OD’d on rosiness.

Combined with my daily yoga commitment (which you can read about here) the rosy pinky glowingness of my drive home is injecting a general level of pretty/happy in my life that had been missing. Now that I know where to find it, I’m totally hooked…and I hope you will be too. Below you’ll find a plethora of pinky goodness. Some of these pix are my own, some of them were found, credit is given where due.

Who know’s what colour will grab me next month?

I love flowers growing out of random places!

So delicate...

See!? That's the pink I'm talking about...life-changing pink!

I have never seen such a beautiful onion. Ever. (From Shutterstock.com)

A beautiful illustration by Herbert Leupin, thanks to thedonutproject.com for the discovery

Sqweeeeee! So cute! (From Shutterstock.com)

Snapdragons from my balcony last summer

From a few years ago, the Christmas lights that my Dad puts up every year, reflected after an ice storm

The perfect pink of a sleeping kitty's ear...awwww...

Sweet watermelon earrings, with perfect rose quartz

A summer evening, nearby

Oh, did I mention that I love pink so much that I wore it to my wedding?

FYI: wedding cupcakes should always match your dress...

Breathtaking and hypnotic (From Shutterstock.com)

Giant coleus, from my balcony garden last summer, as it plots it's gradual take-over

Campfire, Lion's Head, summer 2008

Newfoundland sunset, Saint Lunar-Gricket

A shot of my wedding bouquet, which was the girliest thing ever, and apologized for nothing

Another shot from that fabulous summer day with Ms. Excellence...

The beautiful 'autumn berry' wool of one of my BelleTorcs

What is there to say besides AWESOME? This is still one of my favorite movies of all time.

The Gulabi Gang, India's 'pink' vigilantes (From Marie Claire)

Hi! I'm Erika! I'm tired! Buy my stuff!

(Due to a lack of wireless connectivity at the White Oaks High School Craftapalooza show earlier today, I decided to ‘tweet’ my first holiday show experience of 2009 into my notepad app on my iPod. Allow me the luxury of offering a little context for you: I am completely exhausted, went to bed at 2:30 this morning and was up just before 7, was missing bits of inventory that I wanted to have completed for the show, have had 3 unbelievably stressful weeks in a row with no ‘breaks’, no luck, and very little money. I am, in short, very close to unhinged…so because I am a sucker for punishment, I put on my bravest face and decided to peddle my pretties to the world today.)

As a consolation to myself and my lack of net connection, I decided that my pretend Twitter had no 140 character limits…babble away Erika, babble away!

8:30 arrival. Pinched finger in my crapass cart and swore like a pirate, to the wide eyes of peeps in the parking lot. Quick, smile….nothing, nothing…There are green hatted High school elves everywhere helping vendors move gear!!! Big gold stars for everyone!!

8:52 - oh shit, we open in 8 mins. What the hell…

9:13 - Ahhh crap. They’re gonna play xmas music. It’s like 15 degrees out, it’s freaking springishly warm…guess they gotta do something to remind us why we’re here. At least it’s old skool Bing xmas music. Bearable-ish.

9:45- Made first sale!!! $86… Whew, always nice to break even in the first hour…bodes well.

9:59 Bing sings Mele kaliki’maka for the second time.

10:09 The most suave 14 year old ever to wear an elf hat comes over to tell me that as a vendor I am entitled to a drink, and asks when I would like said drink. He says it like a come-on…like he’s overheard his Dad say it to *all* the ladies…I hope by drink he means martini…when really I know he means pop. Bing sings Adeste Fidelis.

10:21 I am meeting the nicest people here…*incredulous*
I really need to have greater faith in humanity every once and awhile…

10:32 2nd sale!! $35 sweet sepia earrings!! Woot!!

10:42 D’oh… just realized that I short changed last customer 3$…feel like a chump…

10:47 Holy crap, the tiniest woman walked past my table lugging the biggest muffin I have ever seen…was like an ant carrying an entire cake…

10:59 Thrice- replayed Bing Christmas music has been replaced by crapass
Mariah Christmas music…urge to kill, rising…

11:25 3rd sale!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT!!!

11:37 Not bringing food with me was a poor choice…sooo hungry…..cheerios, you have failed meeeeeeee…..

11:49 Speedy muffin acquisition complete. This muffin is the size of a whole cake, full of bleached white sugary goodness and random orangey bits that are supposed to be ‘orange’ and is from horrible Costco. Cost me a buck. Om nom nom…

Horrendously sized muffin, complete with gravitational pull...

Noon- Christmas music is off, and I am missing it for some reason. Yes, I must be losing my mind…

12:18 No, crazy tacky lady…I will not trade you one of my $56 BelleTorcs for a weird $6 bracelet cuff thing, please go away now, your perfume is insane and your eye makeup is scaring the children (read: me)… #tradeFAIL

Oooh...people really like to cuddle the BelleTorcs today, I should've charge a cuddling-fee, seeing has how I didn't actually sell one...

12:21 The honey lady across from me just stands and smiles…she is the zen beekeeper of the world. I can’t stop staring at her because she is so damn calm. I’m afraid that I’m staring so much that the whites of my eyes might be creeping her out…

12:31 Christmas music is back. I regret my earlier statement.

12:54 4th sale!!!! I’m sure it’s because of Bing and his honey money voice….

1:12 Crowd has died down a bit. Chance to sleep with eyes open for a bit…lulling myself into muffin-fuelled coma by listening to Silent Night and gazing at some spastic toddler’s light-up shoes reflecting off the floor…

1:15 Bing sings Mele kaliki’maka *again*…
Stifle maniacal laughter at the dawning realization of the ridiculousness of the name Bing…Bing Bing Bing

1:24 Jolted awake by 5th sale!!!!!!! Can’t decide if it’s Christmas or my birthday…

1:30 Tony shows up! Huzzah… A human I can swear with!

Here, take my garbage and watch my table while I go pee, why dontcha?

1:58 “Pie and drink $2.50″
This is on a sign on a drink cart that keeps passing by. We both find this hilarious for some reason. LMAO.

2:23 BING SINGS MELE KALIKI’MAKA AGAIN……

2:27 Irritatingly catty vendor comes over to bitch about show. I, for once, have nothing to bitch about and so I smile and nod and wish for SILENCE.

2:38 BING SINGS MELE KALIKI’MAKA AGAIN WTF!!!!??? HAVEN’T YOU PEOPLE HEARD OF SHUFFLE!!???

2:49 Just met the lovely Cely Corveira from Spain, now living here. She and her sister-in-law are super super complimentary about my work and I feel so sunny Also: they have beautiful accents!!

2:52 Bought two jars of blueberry honey from the calming zen beekeeper of the universe lady. I hope the honey will be as calming as she seemingly is. Muse whether or not bees are inherently calm despite frenetic lifestyle…or perhaps calming zen bee keeper lady is on quaaludes because she is secretly afraid of bees? …She’s awfully calm….

The end is near. Note lack of people, signifying the end being near...Calm Zen beekeeper lady of the universe is behind me while I take this pic...can you feel the calm/quaaludes?

3:14 WTF it’s over. I’m packing up. I haven’t got enough ziplock bags. There are about a million green-hatted, high school elves waiting like wolves for me to pack up my table to that they can put it away. I’m kinda creeped out by their predatory helpfulness…these are not normal teenagers.

3:21 I hear a bunch of shit hit the floor on the other side of the gym, breaking sounds, and a vendor’s cry and a 15 year old boy say ‘oops..sorry…my bad’. These are normal teenagers…

3:51 I am on the elevator with my cart of stuff and a pocket full of random paper…that sure went fast. Scotch will be good. Scotch and Paypal invoicing…

One down, 3 to go.

How cool! What a great theme for a Treasury! Be sure to check it out, this is one of the most creative Treasuries that I’ve seen, I love absolutely everything in it!

Thanks Caron!

The top 2 rows of the 4th Chakra Treasury by Caron...a beautiful collection

The bottom two rows...I looooooooooove the yoga image so much...

This occurred to me as I was chatting with the supremely friendly Claudie Perron of near-Montreal, who had in the space of one hour, managed to find and reserve a ticket to the sold-out Rachel Brice show in Ottawa at the beginning of the Thanksgiving weekend. My friend Diana’s ticket connection had fallen through at the last minute and we were desperate to find a replacement. Tribe.net offered up a post from Claudie, stating that she still had a few. Four hurried phone calls later between her husband, Claudie, and myself, we had made arrangements to meet at Arts Court theater before the show so that we could buy our tickets.

The show space at Arts Court

We ended up waiting a bit to actually get the tickets from the staff, and we just chatted away comfortably in french and english about the show, our ties to belly dancing, and the weekend. It occurred to me as we were speaking that I had no idea how to say Thanksgiving in french, so I asked her. She paused a sec, laughed, and then said (heavily accented) “bien, I don’t know. Thanks-geeving? Mais, non, c’est l’action de grâce…” Action of grace…that’s how it’s said. I couldn’t stop thinking about it all evening, even through the awesome show, the incredible Rachel numbers, and the wine, chili and chocolate feast that awaited us when we crashed my parents’ place at midnight.

Waiting for the show to start, and catching up on the past month or so

Again, french language trumps english for pure concise beauty.

The weekend was, really, the action of grace. The action of being graceful, of having grace, the grace and gratitude of having and being in action. We soared through a 4-hour workshop with Rachel, and by soared I mean we were *high* to be studying with her. Her workshop is far and away one of the most fun things that I have done in a long, long time. It was almost overwhelmingly fun. I smashed away on my zils and found out that I wasn’t as crappy with them as I had assumed. I laughed out loud at how I no longer hated zilling!  Rachel herself is so full of thankfulness that being around her just opens you up…she was genuine, hilarious and goofy…and she took no prisoners. The drilling was intense!  My quads the next day?..well, I was pretty thankful for wine…wine and sofa!

from left: Shelina, Rachel, me and Diana

I had the opportunity to give gratitude, in words and in deed (I had a gift of a BelleTorc necklace for her – she’s wearing it in the pic on the left) to an artist whom I have found incredibly inspiring and influential over the past 8 years of my artistic life. This was a super big deal to me…almost embarrassingly big. Almost all the artists that I love, look to and thank for being my creative guides have passed on…so I felt that since I had a chance to really thank someone for helping to inspire me to continue on in the face of quitting, I had to take full advantage of it and really say ‘thank you.’ And it felt great to actively seek that out and say ‘thanks for doing the thing that helps light me up on the dark days’ and have the recipient of the thanks respond (something to the effect of) ‘I’ve quit doing this 6 times…but I always come back to it, so thanks for being a part of what reminds me why.’

The super-special silver bead and BelleTorc...probably my favorite one.

We treated ourselves to a day at Le Nordik spa on Sunday. Hot tubs + steam room + freezing waterfall + saunas + cold pools + more hot tubs + aching muscles + no schedule = bliss. Again, way fun. My body was so thankful for a little TLC, it felt like 10 years of stress came off these bones. The cold water was cathartic, and the hot water put us back together again. Best part of the day? Sitting in the hot tub, massaging our necks and backs under the crazy heavy, pummeling waterfall, and having it hail tiny ice cubes on us!

We watched movies that I’d been waiting to see. Slumdog Millionaire and Ghost Town. Both really good. I didn’t do anything when we watched them – highly unusual for me and my steady diet of enforced productivity…oh wait, we ate a ridiculous amount of ice cream while we watched them. We visited with ever-cool Ms. Excellence and her excellently awesome kids and invented, conceptualized and planned BATTLELUGE…a new event for the new year. We almost lost our s**t laughing ourselves hoarse at the plans…stay tuned for more information on this kickass event as it becomes available! All I can say is it involves lawn-luge with ice, and a merging track…oh, and capes!

The view of Meech Lake from Blanchet Beach...still my all-time favorite beach.

I gave Diana the 10 cent tour of the Gatineau Hills where I spent my childhood, and we took in the Champlain Lookout and Meech Lake and enjoyed some major solitude, chilly skies and awesome views. The weekend was so comfortable and effortless. It was all simple, easy and fun. Big big fun.

The view south-east-ish from the Champlain Lookout

I told Diana at the end of the weekend that I was all filled up with happy and that it made me aware of how low my happy tank had been for so long. Why do we do this to ourselves as grown-ups, deny ourselves the action, and the responsibility of being truly, silly happy? Is it cause we’re too busy, we’re too responsible, we’re too tasked…? What bogus reasons. When fun hasn’t been had for awhile, and if finally appears in bucketfuls in your life, you become aware of what an essential element it truly is. Living without it is like barely breathing. It’s going to catch up to you eventually.

I was really, really happy that I had had the opportunity to hang with D over the weekend. She is truly awesome, and so easy to just be with. I guess that’s the true marker of friendship, the quality of the time that’s spent just hanging out and being. I feel pretty damn lucky to have such cool friends.

The 'dirty selfy!' We got a passerby to take our pic too, but I think I like this one best.

I never want to be that busy…but I am, and I’m not sure how happy I am about it. It has been food for thought ever since.

I really do like ‘Action de Grâce’ a whole lot more than the word ‘Thanksgiving’. It just offers up so much more to think about out at this time of year, instead of just wondering whether I can really fit in a 2nd round of garlic mashed…

Good morning, Erika speaking...

Ridiculous, I know. Everyone loves blogs. They have become so common-place that it’s probably not even cool to actually say that out loud. But honestly, I love them. They remind me about that I still (generally) like humanity. And, they have kind of saved my life these past few days. Because I answer phones to pay the rent (until my darling Antoinette starts bringing home the bacon! One must have goals!) the internet, specifically a few glorious, wonderful, warm and wooly blogs help keep my sanity in check on those days when the general public has convinced me that the sky is indeed falling…and that it’s somehow my fault. These blogs are my lunch-time dates when I can’t bring myself to go to (or fight my way to) the gym, they are the musings that I munch my cereal to in the morning, and are sometimes the last words that I read before falling into bed.

I am indebted to these lovely bloggers for cheering me up, inspiring me, and reminding me that a.) not everyone wants to sue my ass into the ground, b.) that creative-life pursuing people really can make it in their own way, and c.) that beauty will indeed save the world.

In no particular order, may I present to you some fine words that give me hope…

EatMakeRead.com is a foodie’s dream. The photos are gorgeous, the writing is so sweet. Already my kitchen has been improved by making some of these recipes, and my mood has been soothed by the virtual snack that is Kelly Carambula’s charming blog. I visit every, every day.

Jessicasvanityproject is by the strongest woman I know, the ever extraordinary Ms. Excellence herself. I’m so totally biased. She’s the bestest superpower anyone could every have rooting for them. Her writing is enormously deep, sharp, funny and honest. Go. Read. Now.

RIP beautiful, soon-to-be-eaten-by-stupid-deer tomato.

YouGrowGirl.com is my garden fix. I started a sibling-raised garden this year with Heuristicmusic, which was lots of work for little yield…but my god, the time spent there was awesome. The sights and smells and little victories were worth the mourning from deer eating the long awaited heirloom tomatoes and the crushing defeat of losing our only successfully-growing squash plant to some freaking annoying, blossom-eating critter. Hey! At least we had beans! Lots and lots of beans! I look forward with itchy fingers to next year’s attempt. Gayla Trail’s site has been a huge resource for us attempted green thumbs, and her photos are perfection.

TheNourishingGourmet.com is another foodie site, but with a slightly more holistic bent – less ‘white sugar, pound of butter, om nom nom” and more “let’s try something fresh and new.” I appreciate the perspective that Kimberly Harris fosters, and I’ve learned a lot from reading her posts…I’m a food nerd at heart, and her delish recipes combined with a healthy dose of nutritional nerdiness suits me fine…and it’s starting to influence dinner.

MayaMade is newly discovered, thanks to Etsy…she is one of Etsy’s featured sellers this week! I really loved her blog. I love how happy it is. I need that on a daily basis…and her designs are really, really beautiful. She’s a huge supporter of all things handmade, happy, creative, loving and sunny…her blog is bound to do good in this weird world!

Oh…the flip side! You know me, I love duality. ViolentAcres.com…angry, bitter, hilarious, terrifyingly smart and completely unafraid. She’ll tear you a new one…sometimes that’s a good thing.

BadderHomesandGardens.com BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAHHHHH!!!

Dear god, that is some funny, funny shit. That’s all I have to say about that.

Thank god for people like these. My 9-5, morning-wakeup, hurried lunch-break, afternoon-tea-slump, job-satisfaction currently depends on them. No pressure, people…