Off to Saskatchewan this week. The edge of the Canadian shield. To see the lines laid out where Jaimie and Al will build a house. To put my feet in cool lake water. To see what half a bison in a freezer looks like, finally.  

On Saturday, Ash felt his first kick, strong as a buffalo butting its head into a gate.   Thankfully, baby was not poisoned by all the sour milk we were drinking. An important lesson learned: switching brands does not mean milk should taste that funny. It’s like we don’t know what anything should taste like anymore…except for vegetables.  Crisp and clear in my mind have returned all those carrots, cucumbers and peas picked from my parent’s concrete backyard in East Vancouver. Now more than ever, those childhood memories returning, as if the best parts of me are being chosen and stitched into this life inside.      

Just over two weeks until our midway ultrasound. Are you a boy or a girl? I want to know but I love the mystery of you all at the same time.

J

Photo from Bliss.

This gave me a good laugh today (via You are my Fave) in the way that true things are often the funniest.

True: Ash and I have made 2009 our year of NYCing.

Also true: Far trickier than making champagne-powered declarations is carrying out such resolutions without credit.

Yes, we’re on one of those miserable post-wedding cash diets. The kind of belt-tightening where you pretend Pellegriono is wine. Though, I guess the fact that we’re still buying Pellegrino is a sign of its own.

All I know for sure is that when one (or two, in this case) is poor, there must be music.

And movies starring Zooey Deschanel.

Or maybe both.

At once.

Cue: She & Him 

I won’t say who, but look what I’ve created. Think less fraternal Greek and more flaming ouzo, garlic breath and hopefully, a lot of fun.  Etsy (my favourite party resource) was rather weak on the Greek front. If you are an Etsy artist, you should really consider this vastly untapped market. Since I’ve been to Greece (thanks to my 30-year old!), I know there’s far more to that lovely land than the iconic blue and white pictured above. My favourite memories of Greece include: the crouching groups of Japanese painting tours with their little square canvasses, the time I was dragged out of my seat to solo-dance in the middle of a taverna while Ash was in the washroom, the massive bricks of feta that adorned every Greek Salad, our long walk to Paradise beach, which we found deserted and after a near-death experience by wild horse.

PS: I made the invite on Polyvore. Its free and fun, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Here’s a little Greece for the road:

Good morning. I found this piece of collage inspiration on Elements of Style – and I thought it was the perfect way to begin this week’s Champagne Wednesday (well, actually a mimosa is the perfect way, but we’ll just pretend). Perfect, especially today, as Ash and I pour over travel sites trying to decide where we should go on our honeymoon. It will be November. Too chilly for our love of Europe, where we shivered through the last two early springs. Too late for the mindlessness of Cancun, where we’re sure to face Hurricane season. Travel is a privilege. Neither of us take the decision or the weight of such a gift very lightly. I see many more nights in bed with dueling laptops until we decide.

PS: this collage, as shared by Erin, is from an artist named Lulu de Kwiatkowsk. Lulu’s hand-crafted collages are a trip in themselves. You could go on a mini vacaton now if you’d like to take a look. I love the one with the juicy green grapes.

PPS: The joys and pathways of blogging never end. Erin has an etsy shop where she sells the most beautiful vintage wallpapers. I like her idea for framing them above a bed. Brilliant.

Stay:

My fiance (boyfriend back then) knows me so well! He booked us in at the Fairmont San Francisco on Nob Hill. I’ll admit I felt a bit Julia-Roberts-in-a-red-polka dot-dress walking into that vast lobby of tiger coloured marble. Being whisked away for the weekend is a lot of fun. The room itself was fairly standard. The robes were a bit on the crunchy side. But waking up every morning and heading down to the Gone-with-the-Wind lobby was worth the trade. Of course, we had to celebrate with two flutes of champagne in the lobby lounge:

To be continued with tips on where to eat, what to do and other great SF finds…

It’s weird to wait for someone you don’t know to come back from Paris and show you their photos. But I did, and they are here.

Kind of like champagne on the breath, our amazing weekend is fading into memory all too quickly. 

It made me think of this hazy polaroid from Jen Gotch’s site.

San Fransisco is a city I need to think about a little longer before I decide where it sits on my internal map. That said, I will have many, many pictures and finds to share with you soon.

Until then, just a from-the-bottom-of-my-heart thanks to my wonderful.

Jen

Wednesday’s Champagne: Pink by Yellowglen (Australian, $13.99). The back of the bottle says it has a soft, delicate mouth feel, and I think that pretty much sums it up. We paired it with two grilled cheese sandwiches and about 20 pickles. Perfect for spending the night trying to trick Ash into telling me where we’re going this weekend. The pink is the colour of that Sarah Jessica Parker perfume my sister used to wear. I think it was called Lovely. More Paris-pink than LA-pink. This is one of our regulars. It’s good for feeling like this:

When you’re more inclined to feel like this:

First two photos from this dreamy place…the last one from my own archives.

Jen

Florence, Italy

Antelope Valley Winery, California

Unknown, but still magic. 

Jen

(First 2 pics from here, and last pic from here)

Doing careless cartwheels on a beach in San Diego. Christmas 2006.