up-to-the-minute inspiration

I recently came across this great Calgarian foodie blog, Chocolate & Ginger.  Their recipes are super healthy and the photos of the dishes are breathtaking.  A good read for anyone who is obsessed with food.  And also a good read if you are a Calgarian who loves to eat out since they often post reviews of new restaurants.

The lovely shared this amazing hotel in Austin, Texas with me last night while we were daydreaming about roadtrips and the southern states.  Hotel San Jose has got to be one of the most unique boutique hotel concepts I have seen in a long time.  They have a music library where you can borrow iPods that are fully loaded with blues and jazz — step over to the video library for an amazing collection of films to watch in your room.  They also have bicycle rental so you can zip around town — not to mention the typewriters you can borrow in case inspiration strikes while you are there.  I hope I get to visit this wonderous vacation haven — it is so perfect.  Oh and did I mention they also have their own coffee shoppe, Jo’s?!  Perfect.

Having been loving the “Calgary” track off of the new self-titled album lately — the video above is also stunning.  Listen here to Zian Ghomeshi’s interview on Q with Justin Vernon about the new album and in particular where he mentioned our city, Calgary and his connections to the city he has never visited.

Researching and planning summer roadtrips and all of the exciting places we might go.  Like the in Seattle.

There is a lot to be inspired by this week.  Exciting and overwhelming — must bookmark and write things down to look at further when I have more time.  Looking forward to starting my four-day weekend tomorrow.  Should be lovely — I have lots of plans to bicycle around and adventure with pals, my love, and family. xo

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50 reasons not to date (or marry) a graphic designer.

 

Pulled this from A Bourbon For Sylvia.  Bolded my most obvious weaknesses.

1. They are very weird people.
2. There are billions of them in the world, like colors on the screen of your computer.
3. They will analyse conversations in layers.
4. You will spend the day assembling furniture from IKEA.
5. They drink and eat all kinds of weird shit just because they like the packaging.
6. They hate each other.
7. You’ll come out the last out of the movies because you have to see the full list of credits.
8. They cant change a light bulb or without making a sketch.
9. They fuck up all the tables with their cutters or paint.
10. They rather study the paisley pattern on your outfit than listen to what you have to say.
11. They will fill your house with magazines and whatever is out there that has drawings.
12. You never know if it is really an original or a copy.
13. They make collages with your photos.
14. They do not know how to add and subtract, they just understand letters.
15. They idolize people who nobody knows and speak of them as if they were his colleagues.
16. They take pictures almost daily and all are cut in weird shapes.
17. They ask your opinion about everything but  they do whatever they want.
18. Everything is left justified, right or center unless they arrive late.
19. They hate Comic Sans with the same passion they love Helvetica.
20. They use iPhone for everything, because everyone has one. (*Android in my case)
21. You can not decorate the house without consulting them.
22. They steal street signs.
23. Always carry their hands painted with something.
24. They buy dolls unfinished for them to paint.
25. Everything becomes something other than what it really is: cards as tickets, cards as …
26. When arguing, you will be nicknamed like the OSX spinning wheel (not affectionately)
27. Do not know how to dress without consulting the Pantone book.
28. They hate Excel.
29. They read comics.
30. They want to save the world only with a poster.
31. You will spend the day brainstorming.
32. On vacation they will take you to countries that you do not know exist and have no beach.
33. Museums are their second home.
34. They know more positions than the Kamasutra.
35. They can’t go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design.
36. They listen to music you have never heard of.
37. They can´t cook a normal dish, they always have to experiment with new ingredients.
38. They read rare books: stories of children, Semiotics …
39. When they are going to tell you something, everyone has read it in their facebook and twitter.
40. They have own iPods before you knew they existed.
41. The orgasm they remember is when they heard that Adobe was acquiring Macromedia.
42. They have their own shops just for them and there are the most expensive in the city.
43. They want to spend all the money in the Apple Store.
44. You will never understand their gifts.
45. They see ordinary objects and laugh.
46. You wake up in the middle of the night hearim them screaming “When is the deadline?”
47. They see CMYK and RGB like Neo sees the Matrix.
48. They dream of the day nobody will make a single change to their designs.
49. They rather pay for a font than for a special birthday gift.
50. They are always sleepy because they work 24/7.

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come away with me: summer vacation

xxxxx

I am impatiently awaiting my summer vacation.  It’s been a while since I went on a summer-time road-trip.  It’s been awhile since I had a vacation.  Last real one was our honeymoon which will be one year ago when we leave for our trip this August.  Which also means it is our one year anniversary!  Time flies when you are having fun but it also feels like we have been married for years at times.

I can’t wait to hit the open road.

xxxxx

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sled island highlights

It’s Monday and I am still riding a musical high from the amazing time I had last week.  Tuesday started off right with a trip to the Ironwood for Father’s Day to see Meaghan Smith play.  Byron and I had just seen her on the Sunday prior in Canmore and knew we just had to share her sweet tunes with our family.  She is an incredible singer and I am so excited to see where and what she does next.  She mentioned that she is putting out a holiday album and will be touring it as well which will be a great family Christmas night out in the future!

Wednesday was incredibly busy as we had the National Music Centre Design Launch that night at the Uptown Theatre.  It was a great party and a fabulous presentation by my boss Andrew Mosker and the Lead Architect Brad Cloepfil from Portland.  A big night for Cantos/NMC and for the city.  Byron and I got media passes for Sled Island which was great as I was writing pieces for enRoute and Swerve (1 & 2).  Anyways, I would love to share the highlights of our three days of music which actually turned out to be more than just Sled Island, but also having the chance to see two music legends and also one of my favourite bands. Enjoy.

Thursday

Beautifully harmonized Canadian rock that occasionally gets heavy.  Dreamy tunes.

Made me laugh until there was tears.  Beautiful heartfelt songs.  Incredible stage presence.

California surfer dude rock.  Complete with a sitar. And a great guitarist.

Justin Townes Earle: Son of legend Steve Earle.  Early early Americana roots-inspired music.  Amazing guitarist and a killer upright bassist.

Friday

Steve Earle & The Dukes & Duchesses: We got to see the amazing Steve Earle and his Dukes & Duchesses at the Jubilee.  It was incredible.  Three hours of music and two encores.  Was a huge highlight of my year.

Saturday

A longtime Calgary favourite playing rippin’ spaghetti western.  A fabulous Tubby Dog show.  It was incredible and I hope they start to play more shows again.  Missed them.

: I saw them play in Vancouver like 3 years ago and I totally fell in love with their 60s garage sound.  This was the second time they have ever played Calgary so I was super stoked to be able to see them play.  We picked up their LP which provides a good time to dance around the living room.

Brian Wilson: I was given two tickets from work to see the Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys show at the Jubilee and I absolutely could not pass them up for Sled Island shows.  I am a huge Beach Boys fan and the opportunity to see a genius at work is an absolutely amazing gift.  I loved the show so much and his band was absolutely amazing.  They even gave Cantos a huge shoutout for the tour that they did the day before.  You can see the picture below of my co-worker JL who was mentioned in their shoutout for conducting the tour!

The Sadies: This part of the night was totally unexpected!  We had been wanting to go to The Sadies show as well but since we had these Brian Wilson tickets we didn’t end up buying tickets.  However, after the BW show we thought we might as well go up to Bowness Hall and see if the show was still on — and it was!  We were able to sneak right in and enjoy the last bit of the show plus two encores.  It was amazing to see my favourite Canadian band so unexpectedly. Best night ever.

Cute surfy band from San Fran.  Didn’t stick around for too long because it was after midnight and I was exhausted and starving.

What an amazing, full weekend.  If only every weekend had this much music happening and I could see my favourite artists perform so easily.  Already starting to plan for Folk Fest & daydreaming about our summer vacation. xo

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mid-year goal review

Been thinking a lot about goals lately and my plans for the summer — thought I would revisit the list I made in January – 12 Goals before 2012.  I am doing surprising well, eight out of twelve complete.  The four left are quite involved so it will really be a push to get through those.  I can see myself accomplishing them though! See the list below:

Twelve Before Twenty-Twelve…

1.  Work on creating a collection of gluten-free breads and baked goods with Byron. Cookbook?

2.  Start an etsy shoppe with my Mom combining our love of all things vintage & handmade!

3.  Go on a road trip to the states.  Hopefully, to see a music festival.  We have started planning to go to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Fran this September.  While we won’t be driving, we will be going to a music festival!

4.  Purchase a small plot in a nearby community garden and watch things grow.  I am on the waiting list for the Mission/Cliff Bungalow Community Garden but probably by the time I get a plot I will be out of the neighbourhood!  Next best thing, I have been growing lots of plants on my balcony.  Working out so far!

5.  This is typical, but work out!  Biking, tennis, 30 Day Shred, yoga….still need to do a lot more but am loving every minute.

6.  Publish my first book.  It has been sitting on the block for nearly two years and never published it.  Done.  

7.  Write another book.  Probably a DIY book on how to live life.

8.  Visit San Francisco again.  See #3!!!

9.  Learn how to drive.

10.  Write more and get published.  I have been published in Swerve and enRoute this year and hopefully more to come in the coming months!

11.  Spend more time with friends.  Dinner parties, walks, and talks.  Socializing has been wonderful so far this year.  Many parties, walks and talks!

12.  Find a new hobby.  What was old, is new again.  I have re-discovered tennis and am loving it.  

 

I have some more goals to add to the list because I can’t keep moving unless I have a long list of things to do.

13.  Re-launch New Canadian Modern this fall.

14.  Work on gluten-free pastry recipes.  Must find the perfect flakiness.

15.  Bike from Canmore to Banff and back again.

16. Purchase a new SLR with Byron and take beautiful photographs.

17. Start planning our 2012 European Vacation.  Seriously, we won’t be socializing at all next year in anticipation for this trip.

18. Get published by some of my favourite magazines and newspapers.  It’s a long shot, but we’ll see.

19. Save up for our first home.  Stay tuned for a special blog series we will be doing related to this.

20. Sew some new dresses for fall.

 

They aren’t the biggest goals in the world but they are mine.

xo

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confetti and favourite things

On Thursday evening, my photographer extraordinaire pal Nicoleirene came over to do a photoshoot with me about all of my favourite things for a catalogue style photo series she has been working on.  You can check out an example of   I can’t wait to see the photos — I am going to be using them in a design overhaul of my blog.  Stay tuned for that.  I can’t wait for a change, I always seem to get an itch for it around this time of year.  Nicoleirene took a couple Polaroids of Byron and I as a souvenir that night.  I love them!

 

 

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i heart joe

My lovely friend Liz invited me to the Pre-Grand Opening Party at the new Joe Fresh store at Cross Iron Mills.  It was definitely a trek to head out there but it was worth it in the end.  We both left with a bag full of cute clothes & makeup!  Thanks for the invite, Liz!

Two of my fave gals, Liz & Brie!

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No Peeking! National Music Centre Design Launch!

 

 

Would love for all of my YYC friends to come and check out what we have been working hard on at Cantos/NMC!  This will be a very exciting day and I hope that you can join me in the reveal of the National Music Centre design!

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back when i was young…

On the weekend, while looking through my old boxes and books at my parents house I found an interesting journal from 1997.  Quite a mix of interesting scrawlings including spy journals and my personal thoughts on life and people.  One quote particularly stood out from the rest:

 

“If I am going to be a writer, I must meet everyone and find out everything about them.”

It’s always reassuring to know you are on the right track, the track that your 12-year-old self had started laying out for you.  xo

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