Ice Cream Situations

I have taken very few pictures in the last week and I hope to remedy this soon and have a few to post up here ASAP. I've caught a ride back to Toronto this weekend so I'm super pumped to see a few shows on Queen street and drink some decent coffees. I have also done very little baking since coming to Rochester and I hope to fix that problem in the coming weeks. I've had my eye on Momofuku's "Crack Pie" for quite awhile but the name implies it's deliciousness and I don't want to eat a whole pie. Perhaps I will organize some sort of dinner party at my place so I can share the calories of my baked goods with other people.

One thing I truly love about the States so far is the price of ice cream. Pints of Ben and Jerry's cost $2.99! I can afford to have ice cream for dinner at that price. I bought my first pint last night at the grocery store but I played it safe and opted for "Half Baked" frozen yogurt. Now I can just eat more without feeling so disgusting.

DOUBLE RAINBOW!

To my right....


and to my left

The weekend before I packed up a truck to cross the border I spent some time with my parents and my boyfriend up north. The weather that weekend was rainy and cold and the wind was so bad that the power went out for most of the day on Saturday. We built a fire and all was fine, I like the cottage much better when the TV isn't on in the background.

After some pretty intense wind and rain the sky cleared up a little bit and there were rainbows all around. Kyle and a few others were out on the boat to pick my Mum up at the marina and they came back to the cottage saying there were double and triple rainbows all over the sky. There was also one point where they were "inside" a rainbow. From what I understand there was a full rainbow across the water that began and ended in the lake and continued through the water and under the boat. I'm having a hard time picturing this in my head but it sounds incredible and I'm ashamed to admit that I napped on the couch instead of going out on that boat ride! I did some awesome skies and a partial double rainbow that I took about 100 photographs of.

Once again, left...

and right

A strange little bird we found

America

My attempt to pack all my clothes

Finally, the internet has been hooked up at my new place in Rochester and I am back in business! I moved here exactly a week ago and have been living without the internet and without much else to do other then set up my new place, read and go for walks. America is a weird and wonderful place. I expected Rochester to be a small town with a small town mentality but everyone here is really friendly and there are a lot of college students so there is lots to do and see. Granted, not as much fun and exciting stuff as a city like Toronto but I'm here for school, not to spend money and go out for fancy dinners. One of the best things I've discovered so far about Rochester is their Sunday farmer's market. I got a whole bunch of stuff there this weekend for next to nothing.

- 4 organic heirloom tomatoes for $1
- a few bunches of locally grown green concord grapes for $1
- a whole bunch of patty pans for $1
- 2 vanilla beans for $3
- boqueorones in oil for $6 (not a great deal, I will admit)
- 2 pints of figs for $1
- 8 cobs of corn for $1

I was overwhelmed by how cheap it all was and now I don't know what to do with it all. I'm thinking of making a patty pan and fennel soup and possibly some sort of fig compote or tart so nothing goes to waste.

My roomate and I are living in this nice little coach house that has lots of windows, beautiful hardwood floors and so much space we don't know what to do with it all. I brought some leftover paint from my Toronto apartment with intentions of painting my bedroom but when I got here it turns out my bedroom is the exact same colour I have in my paint can! Strange. I'm hoping to make it home to Toronto this weekend so I can pick up a few things to decorate my room with, it's a little bare right now. I also need some more grey wool from Romni so I can finish up my granny square blanket and grab some delicious coffee beans from The Common.

Living in Rochester has it's perks (i.e. saving some money on groceries and beer) but I miss the variety of things to do in Toronto (i.e. good coffee and amazing yarn shops).

The perfect desk for me, found in the garbage complete with shiny cat stickers and a drawing of a princess left behind in a drawer.

Things have been insane and as per usual I have decided to procrastinate instead of sort out important details like packing up to move to another country next week. I haven't even started packing yet and I have 2 days left! It should be a pretty easy move and it really isn't too far away but I need to get cracking on this business and throw a few things into a box or two.

Let's try this,

[heard] Animal Collective "Feels"

[watched] the latest episodes of True Blood and Mad Men

[read] almost finished 'Tropic of Cancer' by Henry Miller

[finished] 50+ squares for my granny square quilt, no I just need to figure out to stitch them all together

[drank] dark and stormy, with homemade ginger beer

[ate] not enough this week

[hated] Ryerson University's lack of organization when it comes to issuing financial aid, the worst 3 hours of my week so far.

[pondered] finances, etc.

[planned] moving, moving, moving, moving, moving, moving, moving

[forgot] to pack for said move

[found] Beckwith Island in Georgian Bay, clear blue-green water and perfect swimming

[purchased] -

[fancied] -

[clicked] 100 top music videos of the 1990s at pitchfork.com

I like lavender

I like it so much that a few weeks ago Kyle and I went on a late night walk, scissors in hand, and harvested some lavender ourselves from other people's front lawns. We figured that we'd just take a bit from everywhere to get a good variety of lavender but also so that we wouldn't take too much from one place. Regardless, we used our stolen lavender to make an infused simple syrup which then traveled up north with us to a friend's cottage where it made fast friends with a bottle of gin and some soda water. I also planted some of the seeds that were left over and noticed that they have just begun to sprout. Soon we won't need to "utilize" other people's plants.

Lavender Syrup
1/2 cup fresh lavender flowers
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups organic sugar

1. Place the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat over low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat up and bring to a boil for about 15 minutes or until a light syrup develops.

2. Take off the heat and add the lavender to the syrup. After a quick stir, cover the saucepan and let it sit out overnight.

3. Strain through a fine sieve into containers and store in the fridge.

cupcake blowout

Thanks Amanda for this awesome link!

I've been busy....kind of

It's been a few days! Things have been relatively busy (and cluttered) up in here but I've been able to clean up a bit and settle in to some good old fashioned computering (or "blogging" if you will). I've been sorting things out with my student loans and American visa come September and it seems as if everything is in order. Now it's just a matter of crossing the border and settling down on the other side of said border.

In other extremely exciting news, I've finished all the granny squares (well granny hexagons) for the blanket I'm making. I'm just in the process of threading in all the yarn ends and then I'll have to crochet everything together with the grey yarn I've chosen. This isn't a great picture but I took it late at night on my living room floor just as a reference for when it's time to put everything all together.

Found this book at a thrift shop a few days ago for only $4. After spending time with a friend working on her master's in urban planning who referred to this book as her bible I figured it was worth the money to check it out. Due to the 4 other books I have on the go right now I only got through the first few pages of the introduction while walking home but I'm looking forward to devoting all of my book-reading attention to this in the near future.

I've also set up my etsy shop here. You might notice that it's completely empty but I intend to post a few things this week. I'm having a hard time with the quality of my images owing to my crappy digital camera. Yes, I went to school for photography. But everything should be up and running by the end of the week, fingers crossed.

Let's talk about Tastevins

One of the books I have been attempting to get through this summer is "The Wine Bible"by Karen MacNeil. Last night I read a chapter on wine tasting and there was a brief mention in the text about tastevins which are small, shallow silver cups used to judge the quality and characters of a wine in dimly lit cellars. These little cups intrigued me so i did some research and found out that tastevins came into popularity around 1680 in France where wealthy people would have them made by silversmiths, engraved with their names and then carry them around in their pockets. Although not often used today some sommeliers and hardcore Burgundy enthusiasts still wear tastevins on a ribbon or chain around their necks as a throwback to it's traditional purpose.

These cups are usually made of silver and are almost like shallow teacups with convex bottoms. Available light in a dim wine cellar would reflect off the surface of the silver inside the cup and shine through the wine held within to be judged for it's colour and clarity.

Because wine was often sold and stored in barrels until the 1800s it was necessary to use tastevins instead of lugging a barrel of wine into better light and then pouring some off into a wine glass.

I want one.

image from www.alhambraantiques.com

Make me rich interweb

Times are hard, life ain't cheap, so I've decided to sell some shit on the internet! I've been throwing around some ideas as to what I should offer and have come up with a random assortment of things that other people might enjoy (mostly because I enjoy said things). I hope to start up an etsy shop tomorrow and post a few things here and then the cash will start rolling in....or not.

Hopefully making things/finding great vintage stuff to sell to other people will keep me occupied as I've spent the last 2 days sitting in front of my computer crocheting my granny squares and watching episodes of True Blood and Breaking Bad. It might sound a little less pathetic if I mention that I've been ill this week with bronchitis and internet television has been my medicine.

Spotted while sipping pink cider at le cagibi in Montreal

GMC @ CCA

From the Gordon-Matta Clark archive at the CCA, I love it.

CCA continued...

There are so many photos from my time in Montreal and my internship at the CCA that I have yet to share/won't be able to use in my school presentation this fall. Lucky you, I've decided to post a whole bunch here!

Sidenote: Right now I am listening to an old Smashing Pumpkins album that used to be a staple for me in the 8th and 9th grade. It makes me smile (and feel a little old) uploading these photos while reflecting upon those angst filled years. Le sigh.

Daguerreotype of an unidentified architect at his desk

Inscription on the verso of a daguerreotype

American Confederate soldiers


Verso of a James Beard daguerreotype

Le cottage

Just got back from a weekend up north with some friends. Swimming in a lake never gets old. My clothes and towels from the weekend smell like a campfire and I've lost my voice completely. I took most of my photos with my 35mm which I have yet to develop.

Air conditionnningg

It is sweltering outside but thanks to our new-fangled air conditioning I am only sweating a small amount right now. Tomorrow night I'm leaving to go up north to a friend's cottage I haven't visited in about 5 years. I'm going to wear my bathing suit in the car and jump into the lake upon arrival. I can't wait for corn on the cob, canoe rides, roasted marshmallows, hearty laughter, acting like children and waking up on the lake. This city makes it hard to breathe sometimes (literally and figuratively).