Music Monday: Oh Canada

If you know me very well, then you know I have an affection for all things Canadian. Their accent, music, and Candice Olsen are enough to make want to visit. But after watching the Olympics this past weekend and learning even more about our friendly neighbor to the north, I feel a trip to Canada in our near future.

There are so many artists from Canada that I love so I thought I would feature some on Music Monday in honor of the Vancouver Olympics going on right now (so excited!).

Sarah Mclachlan - She was my first Canadian love. Her album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, which was released in 1993, is still one of my all time favorite albums.

Fiest - Most recognize this artist from the iPod Nano commercial that featured the song, 1,2,3,4 off of her latest album, The Reminder. But it's her sophomore album, Let It Die, that grabbed my attention. I love the song Mushaboom about the village with the same name in Novia Scotia and the simple life of raising a family and tending to the home.

Leonard Cohen - K.D. Lang, another great Canadian talent, performed his song Hallelujah during the Vancouver opening ceremony. But my first exposure to Cohen was through his album Ten New Songs, and I have been hooked ever since.

Great Lake Swimmers - They had me at Ongiara. It's a little bit Canadian folk and a little bluegrass. Perfection.

The Be Good Tanyas - Their albums Chinatown and Hello Love are in heavy rotation at our house. I wish they would put another album out so I could have a chance to see them in concert. Again, another blend of Canadian folk and Southern bluegrass, which seems to be my favorite combo right now.

Thank you, Canada! I hope to visit your beautiful country very very soon.

Snow Day{s}

If you're bored and it's snowing

Clap your hands {clap, clap}.

That is probably true for anyone reading this on the East Coast. I don't ever remember getting back to back snow storms this far south. But here it is, the 2nd Friday in a row where it's snowing and we are stuck inside. We aren't accustomed to this kind of weather. I'm sure if we were in the North or Midwest we would be out driving around, going about our business. But since I live in the South and just the mention of snow cancels school and sends everyone running to their nearest grocery for milk and bread, I am inside going STIR CRAZY.

And what to do when you are stir crazy and can't don't want to go outside? Catch up on homework? Nah, that's for nerds. Finish home projects? Bah, that's for the birds. Cook, bake, and eat your way out of boredom? Now you're talking!

Last week I came down with a terrible stomach bug and couldn't eat a real meal for FIVE days. So, when it started snowing Friday night and we were stuck inside all day Saturday, I took that as a sign to make up for lost time. I went into the kitchen around 10 a.m and came out sometime around 7 p.m. covered in flour, sugar, and grease.

Some of the things that came out of the kitchen were:

Ina Garten's Tri-Berry Muffins*

Meyer Lemon and Ricotta Pancakes w/ creme fraiche* (adapted from the Fairmont in San Francisco)

French Chocolate Bark (adapted from Ina Garten)

that we turned into s'mores (that goes great with red wine!)

And last, but not least...Oreo Balls*

I snapped this picture before they were dipped in white chocolate, which I forgot to take b/c I was too busy stuffing my face full of sugar. Can you tell I had a sweet tooth last week? That's what happens when I can't eat for FIVE days. And also why I don't get diets. Telling myself I can't have something only makes me want it more.

With snow in the forecast for this weekend, we thought we would try something other than cooking to keep us from getting bored.

Drinking!

Markus came up with a great concoction of Tequila**, lime, and ginger ale. It's delicious and smooth goes down.

*e-mail me if you would like recipes I didn't link to. I was too drunk lazy to type them up.

**I'm not allowed to drink Tequila unless under constant supervision and away from the general public, so this is a real treat!

Music Monday: Citizen Cope

Markus and I are going to see this band play Saturday night at The National. His music is a blend of reggae, hip hop, blues, and southern beatnik. Very nice music to listen to, especially on a warm, sunny day.

Enjoy!

December highlights

On the eve of the 2nd month of 2010, I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures from the last month of 2009. Better late than never!

We did a lot of lying around by the fire.

And being couch potatoes because the giant pillow on the floor is clearly not as comfortable!

We even made it of the sofa and got dressed up for a holiday party for a Jamaican reunion


We baked cookies with Brynn, Grant, and Abbey

And had our first snow of the season


And after a slow, snowy start, finally made our way up North for our annual Hakkarainen Christmas in Brookside

Where it was more napping and relaxing. This was Charlie's first trip to Heikki's. He really made himself at home!

Meeko stuck close to his favorite buddy

And last but certainly not least, we snuck in a romantic getaway to my favorite city

All of that travel and holiday cheer cost a lot so we sent Charlie off to work


And that is our month in a nutshell. I hope to have more pictures up on our Flickr account soon.

Stay tuned!

Wetting the whistle

Just because I haven't personally blogged, doesn't mean I haven't been reading them. Especially design blogs. I just can't help it, it's in my blood. Here are some things I have found to tide me over until I can work on my own home again. Hope you find them as inspiring and mouth watering to look at as I do.

Have you seen the movie, It's Complicated? I was in awe over the set design and was anxiously awaiting for Julia over at Hooked on Houses to do a Movie Monday on the set. She dug up a few visual stimulating photos to hold us over until the DVD comes out later this year. You can check it out here.

Don't tell my husband, but I already have ideas for a kitchen like this in our next house (and maybe our current, shhhhh).

And just today I saw a post over at Design Sponge on a swoon worthy office. Who wouldn't want to come to work everyday with digs like this?

And my favorite Interior Designer/blogger/new mama, Erica over at Urban Grace Interiors blogged about Birmingham Architect Bill Ingram's lake house that was featured in Cottage Living (it has also been featured in many other publications, check out the links under publications for more pictures and details). I fell in love with the play of bold textures, dark wood, and soft hues immediately.

And those striped hardwood floors are making me consider painting ours. Hmmm...

p.s. I never know the proper way to give credit to images/ideas found on other web sites. My purpose is to share, not offend so If this is your work and you do not want it displayed, please let me know.

p.p.s. We are learning idioms in my strategic reading class. Don't you like how I have incorporated it into my day-to-day living? My teacher would be so proud ;).

I'm baaaack

Hi there! It's been awhile. I didn't mean to take a vacation from blogging but it just sort of happened. December, as it usually does, got a little hectic. We had a great month full of parties, family, travel, and friends. I wanted to document it on the blog but the days started to run together and before I knew it, it was 2010.

The longer I was away, the harder I found it to come back. Not because I don't enjoy blogging but I just didn't know where to start. I haven't taken very many photographs over the last month. I wasn't really in the mood. I do have some photos of Christmas to put up but I can't find the cord that connects the camera to the computer. Oh well. I'll eventually get there. And, I haven't done much to the house as far as decorating. I'm on a hiatus after all the fall renovations we did. Which, I also need to blog about but want to do so with before and after pictures (see above sentence). I have been cooking A LOT. I go through phases and that is the phase I am in now. I have had shorter work days this month and have been using the extra time in the afternoons in the kitchen. I go back to work full time next week and I am really going to miss my extra "free" hours. I didn't document any of the items I whipped up but was generous to share with a few friends and family.

I guess I have just been enjoying living my life off-line. It's nice to do every once and awhile! We will see how much longer it lasts now that I will be in the office for a full 40 hours a week.

So, stay tuned to see what's next.