Zaida's Toolbox

A few months ago, I inherited two toolboxes that had belonged to my Zaida (grandfather), after my Bubba (grandmother) passed away.  It's been a bit busy around these parts, so I only last week got a chance to sit down and sort through them and decide what I wanted to keep, and what I could pass along.  I thought I'd sit down with my camera for the process, as it felt a bit like opening a time capsule.  I doubt that anyone has looked in the toolboxes much in the nearly 10 years since he passed away, and they were certainly filled nearly beyond capacity with stuff.  It took a bit of negotiating to get everything to fit back in there!  My Zaida was a very, very handy man, and so his toolboxes are an extension of what I remember most about him. 

It's funny, the things you can learn by going through someone's belongings that they never expected anyone else to pay attention to or even to ever see.  How they keep things organized (or not).  The things they can't see fit to throw away, even if a use for them doesn't seem apparent.  That someone kept dropping Bubba's nice dishes, enough to justify 3 tubes of china-weld.  Little scraps of paper, pencils sharpened with a knife, and more loose screws than One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  I like to think that I'll have a piece of him with me on all the future projects I use these tools for. 

--Erin

365 Project: Days 1-14

Hi everyone!

First of all, thank you all for your kind words about my Bubba.  Her funeral was beautiful, and you could hardly find a place to sit during the service at the funeral home.  My little sister turned to me and said "who ARE all these people??" I told her they were Bubba's friends.  "Wow.  She was POPULAR".  She was clearly well loved.  I was thrilled to have the chance to look through the albums of old photos she had kept hidden away from us out of fear of what would happen to them! Turns out my Zaida was a ridiculously good looking fellow in his day.  The more you know.

Anyhow, one of my goals for this year is to successfully complete a 365 project.  Since Ephraim bought me this super sweet Olloclip iPhone lens for Christmas, I was inspired to do a 365 project of only iPhone photos.  All photos for the project must be shot and processed entirely within my phone (well, phone attachments count, but you get the point).  I'm hoping to see how far I can push the limits of my dinky phone camera.  Plus, creating art with something manufactured for functional, rather than creative means, is pretty neat.  I'm giving each photo a title, and am going to print them all if I manage to complete my task at hand!

Click to enlarge the photos for better resolution.

1// A Fresh Beginning 2// Feeling Like A Fish 3// Line, Line, Everywhere A Line

4// A Field Of Daisies 5// On The Road To The Emerald City 6// Collars and Constellations

7// Torture Device 8// At The Foot Of The Colossus 9// A Spire To Greatness

10// If You Squint Hard Enough, Even Traffic Is Beautiful 11// Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree 12// Here They Come To Save The Day

13// Art Imitates Reality 14// Do Your Duty

Are you doing a 365 project? How are you keeping up with it so far? Do you find you need an alarm or a special reminder to make sure you complete your entry for each day?

--Erin

Baby, It's Cold Outside: Christmas Photo Dump Pt. 2

As I said in the first installment of my Christmas photos, I am really not a fan of being cold.  Like, at all.  So the majority of my time up north was spent in doors, curled up on a big comfy chair in the living room reading or watching a movie or most certainly sipping a cup of tea.  The perfect way to spend a day, in my opinion! With all the lovely decorations up, I got pretty snap-happy as well, so here are some of my favourite indoor photos from Christmas.  The sewing machine necklace was a gift from Ephraim, and the snowflake and wood box are my wrapped gifts for him.  That's totally just a shoe box covered in wood grain ConTact paper, tied up with some twine, by the way.  I really am obsessed with ConTact paper.  That's even the same roll I used to make my wall decals.  Love it!

Naturally with all those beautiful twinkly lights up I had to do some bokeh! Here are just a couple little teasers (I must have taken 100 shots!) of some heart shaped bokeh I did.  I'll be sharing the rest with a bokeh tutorial in the next couple weeks! The black and white photo of Ephraim has some subtle heart bokeh from the tree, definitely enlarge for the best view possible! I think it looks so sweet. And of course wrapping it all up is my favourite ornament on Ephraim's parents' tree... even if Yoda looks a wee bit menacing!! He'd go perfectly with my Star Wars themed Christmas tree I have dreamed up... just sayin'...

--Erin

Ottawa P.3: Afternoon Tea at the Château Laurier

One of my favourite things ever, is afternoon tea.  Since I was quite young, my Bubbie and Zaidy (that's grandma and grandpa in Yiddish.  You learned today!) have been taking me for afternoon tea for my birthday.  It's always been a fun treat, and a nice way to spend a couple hours with my grandparents, my mum, and my brother, talking and eating (in roughly equal amounts).  

Though it wasn't either of our birthdays, my Mum and I decided to have afternoon tea at the Château Laurier while we were in town.  This year was the 100th anniversary of the hotel's construction, so what a perfect time to enjoy a short visit!

By this time in our trip, I was pretty sick and my Mum had begun to catch my cold, so the opportunity to drink copious amounts of tea was welcomed.  The spread at the Château Laurier did not disappoint, and I was thrilled when I tweeted about being there for afternoon tea, and the Château tweeted me back! Now that's service.  So cool.

jam and clotted cream, meet arteries. Yum!

My beautiful Mum and her tea tray

Plain and dried currant scones

They made me special vegetarian sandwiches! One had a sundried tomato and olive spread, it was so tangy and spicy and just GOOD!

Neither of us had any room left for the tart, but they sure were cute.

Some good old Earl Grey and treats were enjoyed that day.  Looking back at these photos makes me want a hot cuppa right now!

Do any of you have little family traditions you do for special occasions? This one is surely the most delicious I have ever been a part of, and it's something I look forward to being able to treat my children and grandchildren to some day.  If they're not rotten little things, anyway, hahah!!

--Erin

Ottawa P.1: Eats

Howdy folks!

I am back in the Niagara region for a short while to recharge (and repack!) before heading back to Toronto.  

I thought I'd share some photos from my recent Ottawa getaway in a couple different posts, each centred on a different time or theme.  This post is on the most important part of any vacation, the food.  Yes, now you truly know me, I like good food whether at home or away.  Okay, especially away, it's kinda nice to try something wild you may not get the chance to eat again, don't you agree?

Naturally, I managed to get very sick the night before we flew to Ottawa, so some of my meal choices were exceedingly boring (a small bowl of potato leek soup for dinner... does it matter when you can't taste anyway?), but there were 2 places we went in particular that I would love to return to.  Okay, enough jabber, onto the attempted food photography!

Our first day in town we went to Green Earth Vegetarian Cuisine.  It was awesome.  The Thom Yum soup really hit the spot (haha the spices may have loosened the sinuses some....yummy...), and I always appreciate a place where I can eat anything on the menu.  My Mum tends to research vegetarian or vegan restaurants in any city we visit, and this one was a total winner.  I definitely recommend it if you're in the area!

We also enjoyed the crispy wantons with sweet chili dipping sauce, and the summer rolls with jicama and vegan "ham" with a peanut dipping sauce, pictured below.  We arrived toward the end of their lunch sitting (they also do an all you can eat buffet, which were I in better health I may have been inclined to try), so the place was really quiet, but service was fast and friendly, and the food really was very good.  The restaurant errs a bit on the lifestyle side of things, and handed out a pamphlet on the environmental and health benefits of a veg*n diet with the cheque, which I am sometimes a bit iffy on (not much of a preacher), but they were also doing a special thanksgiving dinner with whole tofurkeys, so I'll let it slide.  

The following day we ventured into ByWard Market for breakfast and just to see the sights.  My grandfather travels to Ottawa for business on the occasion, so he has a couple places he likes to go when he's in town.  Benny's Bistro in Byward Market is one of them, and it's a place I need to return to too! I got the french toast with poached pear.  It was amazing.  It was only 3 pieces of baguette but it was so rich I actually had to surrender before I could manage the last few bites.  I want this to be the last thing I eat before I die.  I'm really passionate about breakfast you guys.

The location is super cute, if not absolutely roasting inside (jackets and cardigans were promptly removed!).  The front portion of the building is a french bakery, with the back room serving as a bistro.  Everything looks, and almost certainly is, ridiculously delicious.  Also the place's mascot is the owners Daschund.  Sign me up.

I'll be posting the other photos from Ottawa over the course of this week, in a 3 or 4 part series depending on how poorly I edit down the nearly 300 photos I took, hah! So stay tuned, there's some god lookin' stuff on its way (some more of which is just as delicious looking as these pics!)

--Erin

Before and After: Metal Purse

gave the exterior a quick shine, too! Before/After.

This Makeover was quite close to my heart.  Not only is this metal purse one of the absolute coolest things I own (seriously, just look at it.  So awesome), but it's a piece I inherited from a family member who was dear to me, my great Auntie Pepi.  On Sunday it would have been her 70th birthday, so I thought it was an appropriate time to finally replace the horrible lining in this bag, so I can start enjoying this incredible vintage bag (given the state it was in, Pepi definitely enjoyed it!).

The lining was a deep purple velvet that had just had it.  I'm talking leave-dusty-residue-on-everything, puff-of-dust-when-torn kind of had it.  It was gross.  I ripped it all out, and sadly discovered it was too far gone to be used as a template for my new lining, which is why I ended up with some inaccuracies! Over all, I am very happy with the results, though there are a few hiccups.  Most notably, some of the old barge cement that had been used reactivated with my glue, and bled some colour through my new lining! Of course, I know the purse is only going to get dirty anyhow, and the spots are not so terrible.  I love the colour of the lining, I used an old scarf I thrifted! It was 100% wool which I can't wear, but I always loved the colours and pattern.  It feels good knowing that I could eliminate a little bit of clutter and find a use for the things I have, instead of buying something new.  All I bought to complete this project was some glue, I had the scarf, interfacing (and of course the purse) already!

I'm looking forward to taking this little guy out for a spin! I love how bright and fresh the new lining feels, and now I know it's not such a daunting task to replace the lining if I ever decide to convert it back into a swanky little evening bag (you know, some day when I have swanky little evening plans). 

--Erin

O.O.T.D: Helen's Necklace

This past weekend the Shaw Festival had its final round of openings for this season! This is the outfit I put together for the last show to open of the season, Helen's Necklace.  The show is a two-hander, which is unusual for Shaw, and takes place in Jordan, which is also unusual! In the play, Helen is backtracking her steps through Jordan trying to find a "lighter-than-air" pearl necklace that she has lost.  The show featured outstanding performances by Sanjay Talwar and Tara Rosling, and particularly effecting lighting design that really helped to define the locations in Judith Bowden's cavernous set.  It was definitely not like anything I've seen at Shaw before, and I like the the company is so dedicated to shaking things up; even if only in its studio theatre space.  Likewise, it was cool to see something mounted in this space, as I am designing 2 shows which will play in the studio theatre in late September! In fact, we have our design presentations and first read through tomorrow.  Exciting!!

The Deets:

Dress: Thirfted

Tights:Filene's Basement

Shoes: Hand-me-downs (Bubie)

Bracelet: self made

Earrings: Vintage

Belt: Urban Outfitters

Necklace: Hand-me-down (Mum)

This outfit features not one but two hand-me-downs.  I love getting people's old things! I'm lucky enough to have women in my family with very distinguished  - and very different - senses of style.  When they decide a piece just doesn't work with enough of their things, they give them to me because they know I NEVER say no! Even if I cut that old jacket up and use the fabric to make a pillow cover, I can't let a good piece of clothing (or jewelry! or shoes!) go straight to the landfill or thrift store or whatever.  All items must make a stay in my closet first.  Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. 

Do you get the hand-me-downs in your family? Love it or loathe it?

--Erin

My Weekend in Retro Specs v.3

Hello and happy Monday! 

I had quite an eventful couple of days, which is why I slacked so hard on responding to comments (all caught up now!), reading blogs, and all that good stuff.  This was a weekend of determination and celebration, people! 

I apologize in advance for the text heavy nature of this post. I left my nice camera at home and took it all in in the moment this weekend (okay and some iPhone snaps too!)

I headed into Toronto this weekend, as my very dear childhood best friend had her bachelorette party.  I can't state enough how totally wigged out I was over this, and really, still am.  The girl I was sewn-at-the-hip to for seven years is getting hitched.  It blows my mind.  It blows my mind even more since we haven't managed to get face to face for like... six years...

I was so incredibly happy to be invited along to celebrate, because man, what an incredible milestone, and what an incredible lady she's become.  We're lucky in that though we haven't lived close enough together to manage to see each other on the regular in years (especially through university and doubly so now), I find it just as easy to talk to her as it was when we were 11 years old being major dorks together.  I'm so glad she's got a major-dork dude to nerd out with for the rest of their lives :). I actually got their wedding invitation in the mail today, and damn if that sucker doesn't have a TARDIS on it.  Nerd love, guys.  It's the best kind.

Since I knew that the bachelorette party would involve a big commute, I didn't fill the rest of the day with many social engagements (well, the whole weekend was pretty quiet socially, actually!). I managed to have some tea with my Mum, and check out a vintage/second hand shop that recently opened in the neighbourhood, where we both found some treasures.  If you're in Toronto, check out Gypsy on St.Clair west, it's a total goldmine and it's reasonably priced too! The weekend contained a lot of shopping actually, as I have a function on Wednesday that I had to purchase a special outfit for.  You can expect a write up and photographic evidence later this week! 

Vintage finds from the St. Lawrence Market

Sunday included a greasy spoon brekkie with my Dad, step-mom, brother and sister, a trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario (aka the AGO), some vintage shopping, and finally getting to see The Amazing Spider-Man.  Not too shabby! We went to the AGO specifically for the Picasso exhibit, whom I had quite the obsession with as a child.  Yesterday really reaffirmed for me that his cubist period is totally my favourite! There were so many inspiring pieces, and seeing them all with a non-artist was so fun; Ephraim claims that my insights into his work really affected how he viewed the exhibit.  Is there anything better to hear than that?  We spent the whole day downtown, with a brief stop at the St.Lawrence Antique Market, where I wasted no time in buying a scarab beetle ring, new vintage shades, and a gift for my Mum (haha you'll have to wait till December! Cruel, I know!).  Neither of us were particularly enthused with Spider-Man, but it had to be seen.  While Batman is my superhero (err hero-philanthropist?), Spiderman is Ephraim's, so it really wasn't a film we could miss.  And I do like me some Emma Stone. 

How were your weekends? Did any of you get to celebrate a milestone in a loved ones life, or have the opportunity to learn more about a hero of yours? Or, you know, just veg out and watch too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Yeah, weekends are the best!  

--Erin