hoo ya!
a little more cleaning up to do here at work, and
then i'm OUTTA here for a five day weekend!
AND it's payday!

who can handle all these capital letters and exclamation marks??!!

heading out kayaking tomorrow on bowen island, which i'm super stoked about.
tonight i'm going to a wine and craft night, just like if i lived in, say, saskatoon.
thursday is going to be a super rad bbq for canada day, which can be summed up by the large sheet cake resembling a canada flag that sheree and i are making.

welzers,
why am i typing????
i need to get out of here!!!!!

smooch.

oh ya, garance dore has this great post on elegance beyond clothing. it's really nice. what we can all strive for as humanity. maybe. i like it. hmm. go and read it.

i brought my computer home from work this weekend
because as of late i've found an internet signal from my bedroom,
better yet, my bed!
so yes, at 4 on saturday afternoon,
i'm in my bed.
i have not travelled far from it in the three hours i've been awake.
last night i hosted a back alley bbq, behind my apartment building.
last night was really fun.
last night i drank too much.
now i'm not feeling well.
for the first hour i was up
all my thoughts were consumed with getting coffee,
and is there anyone who i can manipulate into bringing me some?
the answer being no,
i ended up doing a weird version of the walk of shame to the coffee shop on the corner,
shielding my eyes and shuffling as upright as i could manage.
then i fell down on the couch and watched real estate shows on tv.
my head is still pounding!

last night was a hoot though.
we emptied my apartment into the back alley
and created a living room with couches and cozy chairs.
i had only two short stools to use as tables,
so skinny tim went up the alley and came back with
a huge piece of plywood that we lay across,
et viola, a more than big enough table.
along the same vein,
chris did the same when we found ourselves short of chairs later on.
it's a good alley, this alley of mine.

until early this morning,
i had two belgians staying with me on my couches,
and they were in raptures as this was the only day and evening they were able to be in vancouver.

my head is still pounding and i have to go and get clean,
chris will be here in about 20 minutes and we will go to mosaic and do the music thing.
oh man.
advil, advil, advil.

love julie

i would like to tell you about the very best sandwich in all of vancouver.
and as i type this,
i feel you should know my hands are absolutely black.
they are covered in chalkboard paint and i cannot get it off.
but the wall looks great.

so, the very best sandwich.
it can be found at little nest on charles just off the drive.
prepare yourself though,
this place is insanely kid friendly,
and i just about went insane waiting for my sandwich. shudder.
i don't know how to lead into this with a verbal drumroll or something,
so,
its salami, roasted heirloom tomatoes, basil mayo and boconccini all of it served warm on toasted baguette.
swoon.
it's unbelievably savory, large, and gorgeously presented (to go that is. i afformentioned why i could never eat there).

go get it!
i only get it about once or twice a year, because for some reason i forget about it,
and also when i want it, i've got the work car and then i give up because its impossible to find parking.

but i had it today.
and now i'm telling you.
go forth.

hey i finally beat my seven year old in chess!
thanks bryan at jj bean!
taught me a few things such as the dutch defense.
booya. the seven year old went DOWN.

my beloved (in very platonic, fair weather way) spain,
lost this morning to fucking SWITZERLAND.
whaaaaaaaaa. you're the reigning euro champions for heavens sake. where was your defense?
and that is all i have to say about sports.

now back to shoes for a minute.
remember those gwyneth paltrow wonders i showed you last week,
well i saw them in the store and let me tell you,
they are not so nice up close.
and the maggie's, i feel like they are just
a little bit too nerdy.
so after i had dinner with chris,
who's back from ottawa (yipee!),
i left the store empty handed.
what am i going to do?
maybe just replace the birks. boring.

i'm going to hunt down a good tailor to patch up my black skinnies that i blew out.
and then i will say,
WELCOME BACK LOVERS!

a rough start to my weekend,
had me scrambling around looking for the best and greatest cathartic options.
and oh my, cartharsis there was.
friday was nachos and beer and coffee and whatnot with b-heeb,
followed by smoked salmon and salad and birthday cake with great people.
saturday was a late start, deacon's breakfast, and a movie, followed by a bbq with brand-new friends that i met the night before at smoked salmon.
then sunday was supposed to be julie and courtenay day until julie remembered that she was supposed to be at her grandma's house for dinner. oops.
then it was julie and courtenay go to grandma's house and eat and eat eat.
and julie does free laundry! yipee!
and also i got every soccer pick right on sunday! six points! wahoo!
i currently am sitting in the middle of the pack, which ain't too shabby.

ok and before i go,
who remembers this??
thanks to mandy for this gem, which has had me giggling all morning.
SIZE SMALL!!

ok so i'm in fairly desperate need of summer shoes.
every now and again checking out the gravity pope website to see whats new.
well, today was KA-CHING. BULLSEYE.
i found two, very different, but both probably neccesary, pairs of sandals.
i call them
"the gwyneth paltrow side of julie"
and
"the maggie gyllenhaal side of julie"

ok , ok, wednesday, here we go.
yep, its raining something fierce.
but i've got a large cup of coffee, albeit slightly cold at this point.
but i would argue that's what makes a good cup of coffee.
whether it remains good even though cold.
i lie, that's not my argument, it's kathleens. i'm in agreeance.
and speaking of coffee,
i laugh everytime i think of this,
but in order to prevent spilling whilst driving,
according to kenton,
holding your coffee mug in the air,
"cushion the coffee tsunami".

major laundry on the go,
i've brought some of my own over to sneak in.
a combination lack of time and money to get it done chez moi.
tonight i'm going out with the cool kid parents from the kids' school.
we're going drinking on the drive! ya!
i'm the only single, and the only non parent.
being a pisces is sure fun. you can make friends with anyone!
except for people i don't like.
there's a few of those.

downloaded my visa application for france the other day.
my lord there are a lot of factors required of you.
4500$ in the bank,
travel insurance, personal liability insurance, whoa.
plus a round trip plane ticket, (for over a year?? that freaking pricey)
some sort of advance address and job.
i'm wondering if there is not a way to fudge some of this.
this is not a good way to be thinking.

anyways.
happy hump day.

I CHANGED MY OWN BIKE TIRE TUBE YESTERSDAY!!
IT ONLY TOOK ME THREE HOURS!!
at the end though i had to call in the big guns for getting the tire back onto the frame properly.
seth. love ya. see you tonight. thanks for the plastic tire prong things.

Mavis Staples Tells All About Her New Album With Wilco's Jeff Tweedy

this morning i turned into a swimming pool as i walked the kids to school.
very much downpour.
it's going to be a fun day for most of these kidlets,
benjamin has his first triathalon. what??? he's seven.
and it's raining.
in my books that warrants calling the whole thing off and drinking hot cocoa and watching cozy movies.
thank god its my boss whose volunteered to do the driving and the cheering on.
nanny mcjulie is drinking hot coffee and reading fantastic mr fox to the four year old.
and said four year old has her kindergarten orientation this afternoon.
the third annual kindergarten orientation.
she could not be more excited.

i went to the states to buy pants last night.
i bought a hat instead.
then coming back met up with most of my favorites for pizza in surrey.
hilariously we've all vowed to try and get in to the same nursing home later in life.
rook, skip bo, dutch blitz, coercing henry eisenhauers kids to sneak us in some booze.

and i felt so much joy and peace.
for if i can keep these guys until the end of my life,
a happy life indeed.

i'm becoming a product whore.
now look what i found.
its cool.

do you live in an apartment like me?
is composting a pain in the ass like it is for me?
because you hate fruit fly's and stink so much?

LOOK WHAT CAME ACROSS MY PATH!

it fits in your freezer! it's made out of silicone! you just pop out one big frozen brick to compost!

happy friday!
my bum hurts!
(so does my vagina),
because both those things are getting used to my new bicycle and it's seat.
ouch!
but i got a new bicycle!
and it's gorgeous. in an understated way.
black norco road bike with dusty rose handle bar tape.
i rode it home last night, and to work this morning, with relative ease.
the last bike i had (crappy, crap, craphead)
forced me to walk it up certain hills on the commute,
but the new gal made it easy as pie.
pie from scratch. still takes a while.
but i blew through every hill i couldn't do a few years ago. yahoo!

had delicious elevensies with the plett ladies this morning. and also wee henry.
gotta figure out where i'm going tonight.
in my head i'm thinking that there is, like, nine shows going on tonight,
but in reality, there's, like, two.
jazz or jon?
i can bike to jazz, and jon is cheap.

well, off we must go to pick up benny from ecole.
he can read now!! i think he finally broke through something this week.
just this morning i read with him his daily book that school gives him, and i was amaaaaaazed.
poor kid. i think there was a little bit o pressure on him to figure it out.
or maybe the pressure was just on the rest of us and he didn't pick it up at all.
that'd be great.
tata!
happy friday!
KATIE. this is a shout out beacause i didn't email you back yet.
i'm lame.
and really bad about reading emails then forgetting to write back.
LOVE YOU MISS YOU I WANNA COME TO EDMONTON SOON.

hoo.
had a great morning, baked some muffins,
haha and actually had the thought
"did i just put too many chocolate chips in there?"
who thinks that? about chocolate?
but it's ok.
i halfed the flour with whole wheat flour
and threw in some apple sauce in place of some sugar.
all that hard substitution work down the drain because of a heavy hand with the chocolate.
how many people have come undone that way?
i guess many, many, many.

but then a bit of a rough afternoon,
two kids in dire need of some low down time,
dragged to superstore against their wishes.
i feel like i've gotten mad quite a bit this afternoon,
feeling bad about it,
feeling frustrated with the immediacy children require
feeling like a huge case of the mondays.
but then par chance,
i came across this amazing, amazing apartment on design sponge,
and all my grumpiness and mood instantly jumped ship
and in place was a joyous, genuinely emotional response to beauty.
creation and nature are definately one thing,
but bigger responses in me come from man hand created beauty.
a chair.
an apartment.
white walls.
gilt gold.

the idea that the mind of man can think up, feel up, dream up, express oneself through a space.
ugh!
i love how these things garner up an emotional reaction.
oh pieces. stop.

do you feel settled?
in life, or whatever?
i'm wondering if it's possible to feel settled whilst living in the city.
i love the city. all aspects.
and i suppose it might be different if one was partnered up and child rearing,
but i feel like i'm floating/whirling through life without a settle point in view.
should i have some sort of settle point in view?
i'm moving to paris in about 18 months, once work dries up for me here in vancouver,
and it'll be about a year or two year stint.
(unless of course i meet the frenchy ooolala man of my dreams and stay and live there forever embracing socialism and cigarettes and cheap wine full time)
but then what?
i could keep going,
try sweden or norway next..
or come back to vancouver.
maybe get a degree in fashion. hmm.
do people settle anymore?
do single people settle anymore?
or do you go, go, go until you find someone to settle with?

i feel like i'm missing a key strain of thought here.
anyways.
this whole train of thinking just popped into my head and i happened to have my laptop on top of my lap.
thoughts?

i need a hug from a half sweet machiato.
i want desperately to work for garance dore. or scott schuman.
i want to buy the biggest tub of fraser meadow's vanilla yogurt. can you find it anywhere but donalds market? help.
i am thankful for the free morning of grocery storing and butcher shopping.
i want to wear red nail polish for the rest of my life.
i need to find a good seamstress who can copy some clothes for me. help?
i have a shit load of clothes to fold today. which coincides nicely with the episode of glee waiting to be watched.
i watched chris clean out his van while i waited for the red light at hastings and highway 1.
i just ate the dirtiest sandwich. i mean, sure, a ton of protein, but we're talking faaaattty proteins.

i'm figuring out make-up.
for the longest time, i sort of figured that make-up was this thing that helped you look prettier.
and i didn't how that worked, it never looked like me when it was on,
so all i was, was a big mess of confusion when it came to anything beyond benetint and mascara.

but i'm starting to get the idea now that make-up has the ability to add to your style.
to help you polish up the way you like to dress.
much like the manicures that i've in recent monthes become in love with.
and now can't live without.

take red lipstick.
it's been said that a great red lipstick is far superior to even a 1000 cocktail dresses.
either garance dore said it, or gwyneth paltrow.
so true!
and i've finally embraced it.
or rather,
finally overcome all my wierd vanity issues about doing anything so over the top bold.
and over all, pretty sweet.
i love wearing it.
out that is.
but i'm pretty close to wanting to wear it all day at work, too.
look out.
the times they are a changing.

went out to eat with courtenay last night
and because she knew the cooks,
and because cooks like to one up each other on how bizzare the free things will be,
they sent out cured horse meat.
it looked and kinda tasted like prociutto. only saltier.
and good lord we were this close to trying a beef tongue..something. nuts!

right now i'm getting my puff pastry on and whipping up some apple turnovers.
smells great.
i'm glad i went with the labour intensive recipe instead of the canned apple pie filling recipe.
seriously. canned apple pie filling?
says the girl who de thawing the frozen puff pastry!

took a day off this week and went down to seattle for the day,
which was great.
hats off to james moes for a fantastic breakfast reccomendation.
having left at 7.30 in the morning and arriving back in east van after 10,
twas a long day. a good day.

and now i'm sitting here at 2 in the afternoon,
a sore spot in my back,
and a complete free weekend ahead of me.
i am so sleeping in.
and eating at deacon's corner.
do you wanna come with me?

i'm infected.
i'm on the brutalist anti biotic.
i take it and then i'm chilly and flu-y for a couple of hours.
but at least one of them i take at night time when i can sleep through it.

i made some banana muffins
but the baking soda didn't really activate
so they taste bitter.

i'm considering going for a pedicure after work,
but i don't really want to because my feet are nowhere good right now.
you know how you feel you have to clean because the cleaner's coming,
ya same thing over here.

i'm on a hunt for some cream/beige coloured pleated cropped pants. in maybe a light wool.
in plus size?
am i dreaming?
i bought some black ones,
three sizes too big,
dominantly polyester,
but they work.
i 'm holding out for these khaki ones.

COFFEE.

hey.
wanna bawl your face off?
then go here.

olivia and i just got back from roundel cafe.
mmm second breakfast. elevensies. delish.

i'm happy to report that my boots are now offically broken in,
no more are band-aids required to toughen up my feet before putting them on.

trying to plan a 30th birthday event for my bestest.
its funny because we're bestests, but apart from ourselves, we have none of the same friends.
we definately have distinctive and separate groups with which we run.
a couple of times we've attemped the whole cross over, intergrate dealy, but it never takes.
we usually can't stand quite a few things about three or more of the group.
so we've essentially stopped trying.
so all that to say, throwing a party is out of the question.
who would i invite, why would i?
i'm thinking a trip down to seattle for the day.
i know there is a dirty little bistro she loves,
and some good shopping.
yep. yep.
just asked for the day off. its a gonna happen.
especially since my sister is outta town for two weeks for work, leaving me her car.
holy crap. done and done.


(i just overheard my boss refer to twitter as tweet. 'i don't understand how so many people spend so much time using tweet')

i'm going to go and invest in a cup of coffee right now.

garance just did a post on what her top ten wardrobe basics are.
the ten or so things you can make work with just about everything..and that seem to make everything else work. her post was great. you can go read it here. i agreed with most items.
but here are mine.

1. slim black jeans. i have finally embraced them. now i can't get enough.
2. shawl-ish v-neck cardigan. navy or black.
3. my new zeha berlin boots. (scroll down a bit for a glimpse)
4. a good blouse-y t-shirt.
5. trench coat.
6. ray bans.
7. a handful of well cut blouses
9. a good belt. thats big enough to sling over hips, but also small enough to tighten at waist. (hello mad men)
10. hermes scarf. you know the ugly/beautiful square scarves? maybe not hermes. ka-ching.

if you read this you HAVE to tell me yours. i'm so curious.

i'm stuck in 'no social skill' hell.
the boss has a friend visiting from out east,
who, in eagerness to hang out with the kids,
has followed us around for, well this is the forth day.
i'm going crazy shit crazy.

i feel like in the last week or so,
something has shifted,
and now i understand that
one can actually go after what they want.
for me it comes to, job wise,
what i could do, vs. what i want to do.
in knowing that there was an natural cross roads approaching,
i'd been pondering what jobs would be accessible to me, but also that i would find some fufillment in.
but all of the options that i came up with fell squarely under could do.

so i've been dreaming about the want to do's.
and i've come up with a few,
all with a healthy dose of risk and fear involved,
but man,
the idea of chasing your dream.

thats where the mind shift has come into play.
i never considered before the idea of chasing a dream.
the idea of chasing something i knew i really wanted, but somehow figured it unatainable.

and this shift,
this realization alone,
is thrilling.

opened up this page to write with the intent of telling you how great my birthday was.
but now all i want to tell you about is how i want to kill and dismember a certain four year old.
wow.
i am way past my level of tolerance here.
currently i can hear her not staying in her room and banging her heels against the stair in order for me to hear her and deal with that.
i can't. rather, i sure as hell won't.

uhg. totally one of those mornings.
and i'm pretty sure i can trace it right back to the place in the morning where i didn't have any breakfast. i mean my clif bar. poTATEo poTATo.
12 grams of protein goes a long ways in terms of getting you through a teusday morning with three kids who are on spring break.

birthday party. great.
we didn't actually end up making any tea. juuuust whiskey.
and a lot of food.
chris gave me the most insane gilt gold frame that just might be my favorite gift.
and now i just remembered that my grandma sent me a card for my birthday saying this:
"thank you for your note thanking me for the cheque i sent you at christmas. i never hear from my grandchildren. have a good birthday."
which made my laugh and then convinced me to sent a great letter thanking her for the birthday cheque. and maybe some news from her eldest grandchild. man. so funny.
anyways that card came a week ago.
i need to write that letter.

tootles!

its my birthday!
these are what i want to buy myself. pretty no?

tonight i'm having a (not so wee) whiskey tea party and i'm really excited about it.
lately i've picked up some pretty talented and incredible people to commune with, all the the last week or two,
and they're all coming! yay.
and man, along with those who've been around for a while, i'm feeling blessed, blessed, blessed.
my dearest friend court, prepared me five different kinds of tea sandwich makings, and an apple upside down cake, and some bouquets of spring flowers! whoa!
how loved am i?
and i don't have anything left to do for the party except assemble and buy whiskey. the fireball kind. mmmmm. courtenay also gave me a smidge of her own stash, including a half cup or so of this crazy expensive kind that smells so great.
tomorrow might be kind of rough.

oh and also,
please go and look at
mandy and shari-anne's little project.
it makes me smile.

www.topsyturvyproject.blogspot.com

they take a new pair of opposite words every week,
and each of them illustrate/ create their own vision of the two words colliding apart from the other,

then post them.
awesome.