Joyful Soil

Etsy Score of the Month!

2009-02-11T09:11:00.005-05:00

I would love to feature my favourite etsy find each week, but I try very hard not to be a shopping blog.

Etsy Score of the Month is my compromise :-)

I fell in love with the work of UnlessSomeoneLikeYou last year while searching Etsy for gifts. This month, I ordered a portrait for my husband as an anniversary present. If you've ever wanted to feel like you're starring in your own graphic novel or are a comic book heroine, this is a great way to do it!

UnlessSomeoneLikeYou also sells a range of amazing creative wedding invitations, and just started selling perhaps the coolest Save The Date card of ALL TIME:

I am already married, but you can bet that I will find a reason to use a variation of these cards. I'm thinking either 1) party announcement or 2) birth announcement. I'm several years away from needing a birth announcement, but c'mon - how much fun would it be to scratch off the conclusion to "It's a..."

Kids Crafts - Valentines

2009-02-11T09:07:00.002-05:00

I am lucky enough to once again be contributing to HGTV.ca

Check out these ideas on Valentine's Crafts for Kids

New Year, New Ideas

2009-02-05T11:22:00.005-05:00

I've been hatching all kinds of creative projects in my spare time. It has been absolutely invigorating to get back to the creative arts in a variety of ways.

1) Party Planning! The indomitable Kaili is having a baby, and I have the privilege of co-hosting her baby shower in just three weeks! I can't give away any more information, because it's a suprise for the baby mama...

2) Baking bread! That's right, baking bread. That's my plan for tonight - to hit the bulk section of the health food store with my friend Ashley, and spend the evening baking whole grain bread.

3) Making stationery! It was my paper (1st) anniversary on Monday, and I tried to make my lovely husband a customized set of stationery. Then our printer broke, so I made him an I.O.U.

4) Making more stationery! I might start up a small press/paper business with an old friend who is also a genius culture commentator and journalist.

5) Promoting myself! You bet that qualifies as a creative art! I sent an earlier blog post to Design Mom, and she's forwarding it on to kirtsy. This is what you get for being self-promotional. It's great!

What are you doing to get the creative juices flowing?

Creative inspiration

2009-01-23T06:58:00.007-05:00

Spoonflower is a company that lets you design your own fabric (quilt-weight cotton) for $18 per yard. The idea of the company is fantastic, but what I find even more inspiring is what people have done with their custom orders.

Purlsoho is a fabric and yarn store in New York that I will probably never visit, to save myself the temptation of buying supplies for a hundred projects that I'll never make. However, I am deeply inspired by some of the projects undertaken by the owner of Purlsoho.

This custom Spoonflower fabric (so darn cute!) was used at her wedding:

And then turned into a quilt:

The same exceptionally talented woman also made this fabulous quilt from the same pattern:

Purlsoho actually sells kits with 52 different rainbow fabric swatches to make this quilt. Quilts are the sort of thing that I know I will never, ever have the patience for, but I deeply admire in others.

All photos from purlbee.com - the purlsoho blog.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes!

2009-01-12T17:47:00.005-05:00

Ages and ages ago, I wrote that I would post about vegan chocolate cake. Well, last night I needed to put together a quick dessert (because I was having huge chocolate cravings) so I busted out my new favourite chocolate cake recipe. It's cheap. It's easy. It can be made with things you already have in the cupboard. And it's vegan. Did I mention it takes about 10 minutes to make?

VEGAN CHOCOLATE (CUP)CAKE(S) WITH PEANUT BUTTER (TOFU) CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

The cake recipe comes from the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York and is available online here. It is reprinted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts , Copyright 1997 by Moosewood, Inc.

Cake ingredients:
1 ½ cups unbleached white flour
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water or coffee
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cider vinegar (plain white vinegar works too)

As with all cakes, get your pans ready first. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and oil and flour your pans (if you're using a cake pan, put parchment in the bottom and oil and flour the sides. If you're using muffin liners for cupcakes, oil the muffin tin before putting the liners in). This recipe makes 24 small cupcakes (not quite mini, but not regular size), or one 10" cake, and I don't know how many other combinations.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, cold water or coffee (it's a GREAT use of leftover coffee!) and vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, just like making cake from cake mix. Once the batter is mixed, add the vinegar and mix again. The batter will develop white swirls from the baking soda reacting with the vinegar. Stir just until the vinegar is mixed in, and then pour into the muffin tins or cake pan. A cake takes 25-30 minutes. My small cupcakes took about 20 minutes. Use a toothpick to test for doneness (it should come out clean) or do the "bounce back" test - if you press lightly, the cake should spring back.

For the icing (not from the Moosewood):
Mix equal parts of:
-Tofutti "Better Than Cream Cheese" (or regular soft cream cheese)
-Smooth peanut butter (the best is the runny kind that comes from a tub in bulk)
-Icing sugar or brown sugar

If you use brown sugar, the icing will have a granular texture at first. It does fade a bit over time as the sugar dissolves. You can cheat like I did and top the cupcakes with a bit of crunchy topping to hide the granular texture (I used organic cocoa bean bits, because I'm a lucky duck and had some in the cupboard from my mom's travels) but anything will do - chopped peanuts, mini chocolate chips, etc.

Once the cake or cupcakes cool, frost them with the peanut-butter-cream-cheese-awesome frosting.

This would be a great recipe to use to make your own cake mix, since the dry ingredients can be mixed together and stored. A medium zip lock bag would easily hold one batch of cake.

Resolutions

2008-12-30T20:30:00.004-05:00

Last New Year's Eve, I made resolutions in four areas: Personal, Professional, Health, and Relationship. As I mentioned in my very first post on this site, I achieved 3 of my 4 goals over the course of 2008.

For 2009, I am only making one resolution, which is to focus on my health. In light of my long and complicated relationship with food, I know that my mental health and physical health need to be tackled (or perhaps nurtured) in tandem. After several years of ups and downs on the scale and elsewhere, I'm excited about the year ahead. In the last month I've re-joined GoodLife (the best darn gym in the world), I've been working out regularly since renewing my membership, and I've found a Weight Watchers meeting that I like. I'm excited at the prospect of getting outdoors on snow shoes and cross-country skis, and I'm thinking about playing in a touch football league in the spring. Because I feel like kicking some ass...in a good way.

GoodLife gyms share my personal motto, "Good enough is good enough." Their point is that there is a level of general fitness that is both attainable and maintainable, and that's what most people should be striving for. It's certainly a change for me to think about going to the gym 3 times per week rather than having an all-or-nothing attitude towards exercising. So far, so good.

Right now I am getting ready to wake up prepared for a great day (menu planned, gym bag packed, smile on my face) on the last day of 2008.

DIY Christmas Gifts - Part II

2008-12-30T20:19:00.004-05:00

Each year I give my other half a Christmas gift that is personalized in some way. These gifts have included an engraved flask, a branding iron for woodworking (I made the branding iron, which I think gets me a lot of cool points), a compass engraved with a favourite e.e. cummings poem, and this year, a painting of our family as we celebrate our first Christmas as married folk.

Silhouette paintings take very few supplies (without the lettering, you really only need black paint, canvas, and a paint brush), and some attention to detail. I made this painting by taking silhouette photographs, printing and enlarging them on a photocopier, outlining and then cutting out the silhouette, tracing the image onto canvas, and finally filling it in with black liquid acrylic paint (I highly recommend liquid, rather than heavier acrylics for this type of project). I'm disappointed with how the lettering turned out - I thought I could do the lettering freehand but in retrospect a stencil would have been a great idea. Next year!

I should note that this project was inspired by Nie.

DIY Christmas Gifts - Part I

2008-12-28T11:53:00.006-05:00

As I mentioned previously, this year I made the majority of our Christmas gifts for friends and family.

These little calendars went out in His-and-Hers pairs to several of our friends. They fall under the "semi-homemade" category. Little Brown Pen, a fantastic etsy shop, has a collection of "Just Add Paper" gifts. For $5 you can purchase a .pdf file of a calendar, stationery, or other great gifts. You can print as many copies as you like (for non-commercial use). I bought both versions of this calendar and printed them on heavy (110lb) card stock.

HIS:

HERS:

Little Brown Pen has an impossibly adorable video tutorial which I recommend you watch just because it will make you smile.

I packaged my calendars in pairs with instructions for hanging, and wrapped the packages in ribbon for giving.

Voila! DIY and supporting other DIY-ers in the same gift - what could be better?

Get Crafty!

2008-12-19T14:53:00.006-05:00

I had the good fortune to be introduced to an editor at hgtv.ca this year, and I am now a published author! I've written a step-by-step tutorial for making printed table linens. If you have some extra time over the holiday season, the hgtv.ca site has a ton of great DIY projects.

Check it out!

Christmas Count Down - Wednesday Update

2008-12-17T15:03:00.002-05:00

Monday was a complete success. Since my only planned activity was to decorate a gingerbread house, I managed to accomplish everything on my list!

Tuesday was very successful in some ways, and not so successful in others. I didn't get any laundry done (a recurring theme on this blog) nor did I finish the holiday gifts for aunts and uncles. However I did get a good start on the DIY gift for my better half and I am now confident that it will be done in time for Christmas.

Tonight I am going to attempt laundry loads 1, 2, 3 and 4 to get back on track, as well as making and packaging the DIY gifts for our friends. I'll report back tomorrow on my success...

Christmas Count Down

2008-12-15T11:27:00.002-05:00

This weekend we finally put up our Christmas tree and finished decorating the house for the holidays. My vacation officially starts in five more sleeps, and I have a LOT to get done between now and then. I'll be ready to relax and enjoy a week off once all of my work is done.

Monday - Gingerbread House Party. What a great idea! A colleague bought a bunch of house kits and extra candy and has invited us over to decorate gingerbread houses tonight. Clearly a priority item :-)

Tuesday - Pre-Holiday Laundry loads 1 and 2. Finish DIY gifts for aunts and uncles.

Wednesday - Pre-Holiday Laundry loads 2 and 3. Finish DIY gifts for friends.

Thursday - Pre-Holiday Laundry loads 4 and 5. Drop off gifts and holiday cheer at friends' houses. Stay up all night making DIY gift for my better half.

Friday - Pack for holiday. Put on pyjamas, order pizza, sit under the Christmas tree with husband and dog and open early Christmas presents.

Saturday - Hit the road!

Clearly an ambitious timeline, driven mostly by the need to do laundry and my failure to get more DIY done in advance this year. I'll let you know how it goes!

And in case my brothers are reading this and wondering if I've gone completely native - Hannukah preparations are easy!!! 1) Light candles, 2) Fry potatoes, 3) Sing. See how easy that is? No advance preparation required.

Lots to be thankful for

2008-12-11T16:11:00.002-05:00

There's a transit strike in Ottawa. And 30 cm of fresh snow. And one of the bridges to Gatineau is (mostly) closed.

And it's almost Christmas, and students have exams, and stores need holiday business, and it's cold outside.

This is a recipe for complete disaster for a lot of people. I know that my blog has a readership of about 5 people, and that 4 of them don't live in Ottawa, but bear with me for a moment while I say my piece -

If you are given the chance to help out a fellow citizen who is stranded because of the transit strike, DO IT. If you are lucky enough to have a car during a bus strike, share the love, okay?

The Ottawa Citizen website is asking readers to send in stories for a "Have You Been Gouged?" feature. This is sadly typical - there is no "Has Someone Helped You During the Strike?" section for comments. So I don't have a forum to say thanks to all of the drivers who kept their calm in traffic today, made room for orderly mergers, let people into lanes of traffic or stopped to allow a left turn, or generally smiled and shrugged and looked grateful to be in a car instead of walking 12km to work. Thanks friendly peeps!

I'm thankful that I have a car that I can use to help other people out (I won't risk the wrath of environmentalists for being thankful to have a car, but I am thankful to have transportation). I'm thankful that in six hours of commuting over the last two days I haven't had an accident, and I'm thankful that drivers are being nice to each other.

Now if only the CBC could have a Vinyl Cafe marathon from 7am - 9am every morning, I could be thankfully catching up on several missed episodes while I drive...

Santa's Workshop

2008-12-09T07:50:00.002-05:00

In previous years, I have headed home for the holidays with a suitcase of presents. After wracking my brain to think of something that each family member could possibly use (which gets harder every year), shopping and wrapping, and panicking over the bank statement, I would carefully pack the car with gifts of every shape and size for everyone we know.

Not this year.

This year, there are three parcels to cover the entire extended family. One gift for my in-laws, one gift for my sister-in-law, one gift box with several small hand-made items for my parents and siblings.

Each of our friends is getting one of two hand-made gifts (but of course I can't say what until the delivery is done). Each child is getting money towards their college education.

And that's that.

It has been such an immense joy to commit to making the majority of gifts this year instead of shopping for them. On balance, I think it will end up being less expensive (each gift costs less, but I have so much fun making them that I give a lot more) and it has been a big treat to be forced to set aside time for arts and crafts. This weekend will be the final marathon of gift-preparing, and then we get to head out on delivery rounds.

Yippee!

Week(end) Wrap Up

2008-12-04T09:39:00.003-05:00

What a week! I'm a bit behind on my weekend update...so much to do, so little time.

Saturday morning we took the puppy to a new kennel for a trial-run before the Christmas holidays. I love this place - the owners are great, the dogs are happy, I feel like my dog will be at summer camp while I'm away for the holidays.

Saturday afternoon we went to a make-your-own wine place with our neighbours. The actual "wine making" took about 5 minutes (open packages, dump out contents, stir) but we were deeply distracted by the beer-making kits. We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon and well into the evening cleaning and sterilizing the kitchen for brewing, buying supplies, and attempting to brew beer. I'll be able to report back on the results in two weeks.

I left the clean up to my co-brewers to head out to my favourite social event of the year, a Christmukkah party co-hosted by my friend Ashley. This party is generally over-the-top on the Christmukkah kitsch. This year's party was slightly less decorated than last year's (in fairness, the hosts were moving the next day!) but still a raging success. I showed up with a deep fryer (they don't call me Martha Jewart for nothing) and proceeded to fry latkes for about two hours to feed the partying masses. My favourite sweater still smells like fry grease. Note to self - wear disposable clothes next time.

Sunday wasn't much fun - I had a terrible time finding the right supplies for an art project, and a two hour trip turned into five hours of tired, hungry, cold, wet, shopping in pre-holiday traffic. Ugh. But in the end I got to come home, cuddle, and eat some soup, which made me feel much better.
The weekend really ended at about 11pm on Tuesday night, when Neil Young took his final bow on stage at Scotiabank Place. We had phenomenal seats to an incredible show. Neil really puts his heart and soul into it.

This coming weekend I'm co-hosting a wine tasting party, and the week has been busy juggling party preparations, holiday preparations, and side projects. I'm really starting to look forward to taking a week off over Christmas!

A room of one's own

2008-11-27T06:27:00.006-05:00

I'm in the process of turning our guest bedroom in to a home office. The most frequent guest in the bedroom is laundry, and if I can get on top of that mess, I will have my own workspace.

Previously, I had a small teak vanity in the room as my desk. However, I've recently started writing and drawing more, and I needed something bigger.

In keeping with the furnishings of our house, something like this $1800 Nelson Swag Leg Desk would have been ideal:

However, one of my greatest joys in life is buying second hand furniture, and paying retail (particularly at Design Within Reach!) would probably give me an aneurism.

After a bit of online searching, I came across this gorgeous vintage Danish desk. The photos don't quite do it justice, mostly because someone painted it chocolate brown:

But the tapered curves and low profile are gorgeous, and there is even storage space underneath (it is actually a vanity, not a writing desk). One of my winter projects will be to refinish it and restore it to its original Danish glory. And it cost a whopping $30.

Nelson Desk via Design Within Reach

Kid Friendly Parties for Adults

2008-11-24T07:54:00.003-05:00

If you're in your mid-to-late 20s or early 30s, chances are that your friends have started having children. I'm newly married and still a couple of years away from maternity wear, but my social circle has expanded to include kids who are now ages 7, 6, 5, 5, 3, 2, 1, 1, <1, and not quite here yet.

When our friends started having families, we started hosting family-friendly parties. It doesn't take much work, and our friends don't have to fork out $40 for a babysitter just to come over. It also means people have the choice - come early with kids in tow, or come late and get tipsy. Best of all, it means that I get to host a party AND play with kids - the perfect day, in my books.

Not everyone is comfortable hosting kids ("They break!" "They break things!" "They cry!" "They hate me!" "They scare me!" "They make my girlfriend want to settle down!" "There is nothing for kids to do here!"). If you're on the fence - you like kids, but you're not used to having them around - this post is for you. Next time you plan a party, try these six steps for a family-friendly evening.

1) Start Early
Our parties usually start at 3pm and end late. This lets people decide if they want to come pre-dinner, for dinner, or post-dinner (or all three). The parents with toddlers and pre-school aged children usually come before dinner, and the real hipsters always come after 9pm. Hipsters are notoriously fearful of infants (see reasons above), but there isn't much risk of crossover.

2) Let people know if/when you are serving dinner
Our invitations specify approximately what time we'll be serving dinner. You know how you get cranky if you haven't eaten? Kids get like that too, except multiply the crankiness by a factor of the number of years until college. If you're planning on serving a late dinner, writing it on the invitation lets people know not to expect dinner for the kids.

3) Have some kid-friendly snacks and drinks around
It costs $10 to make sure there is some apple juice, milk, cut fruit, and goldfish crackers around. Mini grilled-cheese sandwiches and mini pizzas are also great party snacks, because you can get pretty gourmet and it's still familiar, bite-sized food for the kids.

4) Have activities
We have a coffee table at kid-height, and it gets piled with washable Crayola markers and scrap paper before kids come over. Depending on the ages of the kids, you can add safety scissors and glue (NEVER glitter). But it's easy, cheap, and reliable to put out markers and paper. We ask kids if they want to take their art home or leave it with us. If it's the latter, it goes up on the pantry door until the next party. Kids love to see their work up on the wall, even if you take it down the next day.

5) Expect a mess
Make sure you're ready to mop up spills. The easier it is to fix a mess, the less it feels like a big deal, the less parents feel compelled to apologise for their kids, the more everyone can relax and have a good time.

6) Have a quiet room
Make sure one bedroom is clean and cosy for breastfeeding and sleeping. If the kids are older, you can also have a movie room with a pile of blankets and a bunch of kid-friendly videos.

And remember that it's okay to have rules. It's your house, it's not childproofed, and it's okay to make (and enforce) a few rules.

Image via www.marthastewart.com

Ultimate Fighting and Crafts: Together at Last

2008-11-17T11:30:00.003-05:00

This Saturday night we had several friends over to watch UFC 91: Randy "The Natural" Courture vs. Some Huge Guy Who Ended Up Winning. I don't care that much about UFC, but more importantly, I'm usually fast asleep at 11pm and the main event starts closer to midnight. Add to this that one of our dinner guests is not a UFC fan, and what do you end up with? Either complete disaster (sleeping host, bored guest) or a great chance to have a late night crafting party while the men folk watch the fights.

Lo and behold, with the right incentives (great guests, fun projects) I can stay up past 11pm! We made little glass fridge magnets, which requires the following supplies:

1) Flat glass marbles
2) Pens and paper or magazines
3) 1/2" magnets
4) 5/8" circle punch or scissors and patience
5) Sillicone sealer

I don't have photos (yet) but the process is simple: draw a little picture, cut it out, glue it to the bottom of the marble. Wait a little while, and glue the magnet to the back of the paper. Voila! I made several theme sets to give as hostess gifts around Chrismukkah. Good instructions can be found here: http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/marblemagnets/

I am now actively looking forward to the next UFC fight night, where I will be busy making homemade bath bombs while the fight rages on in the background.

Wearable Joy

2008-11-14T09:53:00.003-05:00

I couldn't resist buying this absolutely adorable toque on a recent trip to Kingston. It makes everyone smile.

Weekend Wrap-Up

2008-11-12T08:33:00.003-05:00

This weekend was the second in a row spent feathering the nest.

On Friday night I took a trip to Ikea to buy the last few touches for my husband's office. Saturday morning I got up bright and early to put together the Ikea goodies (document boxes that needed to be assembled) and to finish organizing our home library.

Once the tidying and organizing were done, we headed to a local church rummage sale in search of mid-century modern home accents. While we didn't find anything that we were looking for, we did find an old version of Trivial Pursuit ($1), a telephone ($0.25), and whole stack of interesting books. The books caused a bit of a fight - I had just finished cramming all of our existing books onto the shelves in alphabetical order by author and subject - but in the end (as always) we erred on the side of more books and brought home several treasures. Does anyone else find used books sales addictive?

We continued the vintage shopping theme on Saturday afternoon and went to the Ottawa Antiques Market, where I found a bright orange Catherine Holm fondue pot to add to my collection. Full credit goes to my husband for this one - somehow my eyes actually skipped over the fondue set on the crowded table.

Then it was off to the dog park and dog agility class and then back home get more work done around the house, and finally a quick trip to the airport to see Kaili and LB off on their adventure to London.

Saturday night we had friends over to watch the Toronto-Montreal hockey game (I detect a Saturday night theme developing). Montreal got thrashed, but the evening was still loads of fun. I didn't have any time to shop or prepare food, so I was very happy when I managed to make a full table of appetizers out of the contents of my cupboard, plus about $7 in groceries and all of 5 minutes of prep time. The spread included salted pretzels, mixed nuts, toasted pesto-pita wedges and cut vegetables with hummus, and assorted cookies. My neighbour also brought over some cheesecake to add to the selection.

On Sunday I went to the local farmer's market and came home with apples, pears, cabbage, and an assortment of beautiful little squash. I never get tired of eating squash - roasted squash, squash soup, squash quesadillas… you get the idea. After a delightful mid-afternoon nap, I spent the rest of the day setting up my own home office and generally enjoying sitting at my little desk and dreaming up crafty things to do.

Jumping with Joy

2008-11-06T10:49:00.008-05:00

This is a long overdue post, wrapping up several things that have made me happy in the last couple of months. Consider it the transition from Summer to Fall.

This year, we had a great (if tiny) harvest from our garden. The harvest itself wasn't that tiny (a few cucumbers, plenty of tomatoes, loads of Jerusalem artichokes, loads of dahlias), but the individaul items often were. Witness the world's babiest eggplant:

In addition to teeny, tiny eggplants, I grew a delicious assortment of heirloom tomatoes.

We also had an wonderful assortment of dahlias. I replant the same bulbs every year (plus a few new ones) and the flowers are starting to get really, really big. Unfortunately I'm not the best photographer, but this gives some idea of the variety we had:

Now that the weather is getting a bit colder, I have a great excuse to stay indoors and enjoy home entertaining. This photo was taken last Saturday. Note all of the required elements for a great Canadian evening - fireplace, talking heads on the TV discussing the hockey game, warm cuddly animals, and good friends and family (outside of the shot). The beer and pizza is also outside of the photo.

That's a lot to be happy about!

Weekend Wrap-Up

2008-11-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

Some of my favourite bloggers are in the habit of regularly reporting on their weekends. Previously, it seemed a bit self-indulgent to me. Does anyone really care what I did on the weekend? However, chances are that if you're reading, you're at least mildly interested in what I get up to with my time. And if you're not reading, I can be as self-indulgent as I like! I've been absent from the blog for a long time, so I hope that writing my weekend wrap-up will help kick-start each new week of blogging.

This weekend was particularly action-packed for me, as I am usually a stay-at-home kind of girl. It started off on Friday night with an absolutely packed Halloween house party in downtown Ottawa. I normally try to negotiate my way out of parties ("Can we just stay for one drink? Can I turn into a pumpkin at midnight?") but Halloween is a special occasion and my other half and I decided to take a cab home so that we could both loosen up and enjoy the party. The hosts did a great job of decorating - there were huge carved pumpkins everywhere, and great party lighting (and they busted out a disco ball for dancing, but that was long after I made my departure). Everyone was dressed to the nines, and I didn't recognize a few of my own friends. To my surprise, I knew a ton of people at the party. Sometimes I forget that I can be a social butterfly when I want to.

My original plans for Saturday consisted of 1) yard work and 2) dog training. Suffice it to say that I revised the plans slightly when the alarm clock beeped at 6am. I dragged myself out of bed at 9am to meet a friend for brunch at the Sconewitch. I really consider this place to be Ottawa's best-kept breakfast secret. It's a bit pricey - $10.50 for the weekend breakfast, PLUS coffee, but the food is truly fantastic. It adds up to $15 well spent on a lovely morning (it's even better when you are treated to brunch!). Then I raced home to head to the dog park with my partner in crime and our mixed-breed Husky/Crazy puppy, Kiji, to tire her out before agility class. Kiji is a very athletic dog, and we're trying to teach her to leap tall buildings in a single bound (okay, jump over a pole) and all kinds of other things. The only problem is that while she is super fast and super flexible, she is also super afraid of absolutely everything. We put a hula hoop flat on the floor to get her used to it (before asking her to jump through it) and she looked as if it might try to kill her.

After dog training, we grabbed some groceries, cleaned up the house, and got ready to have our neighbours over to watch the hockey game. A perfect suburban night of hockey (GO HABS GO!), foosball, pizza, and surprisingly good cheese-free nachos. I won my first ever game of foosball, which was a major victory (I am terrible at all sports, and my ineptitude extends to "sports" that involve little plastic men pretending to play soccer).

On Sunday I actually did do some gardening, and the yard looks a heck of a lot better. I took down the garden fencing, dug up dahlia bulbs to re-plant next spring, dug out the last of our crop of Jerusalem artichokes, and did a bit of raking. Then it was back to the dog park for a short walk in the sunshine, on to Ikea to get the finishing touches for my husband's office, and then a mad dash to my 2:30pm dance class at the community centre. After all that, I did a bit more yard work and then put some time into cleaning up our overstuffed home library. There is never enough shelf space when book lovers get married. I capped off the evening with a trashy, trashy novel and ice cream. Talk about joy!

Awestruck

2008-10-16T09:36:00.003-04:00

Last night went to see Cirque du Soleil under the big top, something I have dreamed about since I was a little kid.

Unbelievable.

When is the last time you felt completely and utterly amazed? I have to admit, it didn't hurt that my tickets were magically upgraded from the cheapest seats in the house to the very front row. I actually reached out and touched the stage, just to see if I could reach it from my seat. Yup.

If the Cirque comes to your city, do your soul a favour and get a ticket.

Now back to my unicycle and hula-hoop training...

Oh what a wonderful day!

2008-10-14T10:05:00.005-04:00

It's Election Day in Canada!

In a free and democratic society, voting is a right. What many people forget is that living in a free and democratic society is a privilege. In many countries around the world, people are still dying to get the vote. In Canada, you get paid time off of work to make sure that you have three consecutive hours to cast your ballot. Stop and think about that for a minute.

In previous years, I have cared deeply about who gets your vote. However, after a brief scare in which a member of my own immediate family said he didn't see the point in voting, I no longer care who you vote for. It's your ballot. Get out there and use it! And I'll do the same.

Get Yourself Sorted

2008-09-30T10:35:00.006-04:00

As I wrote in my very first post on this blog, I want to improve my sense of financial security. This has two components - being financially secure and feeling financially secure. If you are worried about money all the time - whether you have it or not - joy tends to take a back seat.

A great resource for people of all income levels at all life stages is this website put together by the Government of New Zealand. It is full of fantastic calculators (who doesn't love calculators?) and information on a variety of topics related to personal financial health. You can create a personal account with your financial goals, and you'll receive friendly e-mails checking up on your progress.

One of the best features of the site is that it is accessible and non-intimidating. Here is a question from the "Sort Me" quiz:

Have you set any financial goals? They don't have to be wildly ambitious - saving $3000 for Christmas or for a $10,000 a year retirement income would do - as long as there's a figure you're actually aiming for.

Yes I've got one or two.
No, not really.

If you're not feeling totally "sorted" I highly recommend the site. My personal goal for October is to use only cash for the entire month.

Do you have any budgeting tips to share?

Photography for Bloggers!

2008-09-26T09:24:00.004-04:00

Lolo at Vegan Yum Yum has created an absolutely fantastic tutorial on photography for bloggers. It's about food photography, but it applies to just about any still photography. Lolo is a very kind heart - she is absolutely happy to share her "trade secrets" and has a great way of making everyone feel like they can take beautiful photos!

It's here!

2008-09-23T10:19:00.005-04:00

I promised myself when I started blogging that joyfulsoil wouldn't turn into a shopping blog, but I am certainly willing to make exceptions here and there.

I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of ilee's letterpress and silkscreen calendar for 2009.

I have a not-so-secret crush on all things letterpressed, and I cannot say enough about how truly beautiful this calendar is. The photos don't capture the wonderful mix of texture and colour that result from the combination of letterpress, silkscreen and foil. I received my 2008 calendar as a gift from kaili, and it makes me happy every day.

This calendar makes an absolutely fabulous gift for anyone you would describe as "crafty and foxy." Or just anyone, really. They sell out, so go online and buy one (or five) and treat yourself to twelve months of joyful design in 2009. In case anyone has trouble finding the calendar, it is on the main page, not under the calendar link.

Image via ilee's online shop

Value Vintage Part 1: Mid-Century Modern on a Budget

2008-09-20T08:54:00.016-04:00

My husband fell in love with Mid-Century Modern and Danish design at first sight. I warmed up to it once I discovered we could furnish our house with high quality furniture for very little money, and then I genuinely fell in love with the clean lines, simple shapes, uncluttered design, and clarity of purpose.

The sideboard in this photo cost $250 and was found through an online classified ad. The table and six chairs were found through a newspaper classified ad and cost a total of $200 for the set.

You can create a great mid-century modern space without the iconic pieces featured in design magazines. Ikea and sometimes even Loblaws both have affordable furniture and accessories that blend perfectly with the originals.

Some great sources online:
-www.kijiji.com (check the listings for your city)
-www.craigslist.org (check the listings for your city)
-Local web sites such as www.usedottawa.com
-Local freecycle sites (usually requires signing on to a user group)

Some great sources offline:
-Estate sales
-Newspaper classified ads and the Pennysaver (many older people still use the traditional paper format)

If you really fall in love with mid-century design, keep an eye out for great deals on iconic pieces. I once found two Marcel Breuer Wassily chairs for $360 (technically not mid-century, I know), and a thrifty friend found four Bertoia chairs for about the same price. It's important to know what you are looking for and what a great price is, so you can snag things when they pop up.

One thing on our "wouldn't that be nice" list is an Eames plywood chair. The chairs range in price from about $350 to $1200 for one chair. Instead, I bought these fantastic coasters from annacote's etsy shop for $15. It's a great way to reference a classic design that you love, but might not have a place for (financially or otherwise).

Top image via Design Within Reach
Bottom image via annacote

Stay Tuned!

2008-09-19T08:19:00.007-04:00

Coming Up This Week:

Value Vintage: Danish Modern on a Budget
Colour in Scandinavian Design
Joyful Soil! A Miniature Garden Harvest
Small Indulgences: It ain't a nickel but it's only $5!
Vegan! Chocolate! Cake!

An Elephant Never Forgets

2008-09-17T20:05:00.012-04:00

This elephant is one of the few things I regret not buying. At $1000, it is a lot of money for pure aesthetic joy (perhaps this attitude is why so many artists are starving). But I would gladly forgo 10 fancy dinners to look at this beautiful beast each day.

The Eames Elephant, is, for me, a source of pure joy. It is the essence of both good design and childish delight. I'm sure that buying one of the limited edition pieces would have been a good investment (original Eames pieces go for far more than their purchase price) but I can't imagine having to keep it in mint condition - and not letting kids climb on it, wrestle with it, dine on it, and dress it up.

I think am going to frame an elephant poster to hang on the wall. After all, it's the sight of this elephant that brings me so much joy (and I'm a bit big to use it as a table anyways).

Images via www.eamesgallery.com

Simple Pleasures

2008-09-15T17:08:00.005-04:00

I am a firm believer in pleasure. So it's always a joy to me to discover a place where I can indulge in some of life's simple pleasures, particularly if it costs less than $5.

This afternoon I stopped in at The Candy Store, a new spot in Ottawa's Westboro neighbourhood. The store is gorgeous - it's a joy just to walk in; the staff are friendly - good customer service is always a joy; and the store is full of candy - the joy in that is pretty obvious.

The Candy Store is the type of place where a small child could spend half an hour choosing how to spend one shiny dollar. I don't actually eat candy (other than chocolate) but I am planning to buy a few small cellophane bags of pretty candies to tie onto wine bottles, to add a little bit of whimsy to an ordinary gift.

Thanks kaili for suggesting we check this store out!
Image via www.thecandystoreottawa.ca

Just the Food Guide

2008-09-15T11:09:00.012-04:00

Last year I consulted a nutritionist on what would be required for me to lose weight while staying healthy. She provided a target of about 1750 calories per day, to be adjusted for strenuous activity. But what to eat?

The primary nutrition resource available to Canadians is the Canada Food Guide. The new food guide is customizable, and includes a wide variety of sample foods.

Another useful, though more "extreme" food guide is published by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a group of vegan doctors.

The Canada Food Guide suggests that I eat two servings of meat and alternatives, two servings of milk and alternatives, seven servings of grain products, and eight servings of vegetables and fruit each day. PCRM recommends two or more servings of legumes, three or more servings of fruits, four or more servings of vegetables, and five or more servings of whole grains.

How do the food guides stack up as a weight-loss tool? Let's break down a sample menu for the day. Approximate calories are in brackets.

Breakfast:
3/4 cup steel-cut oatmeal (175)
1 cup berries (100)
1 cup milk or soy milk or 3/4 cup yogurt (100)

Snack:
One cup milk or soy milk (100)
Orange (65)

Lunch:
1 cup whole wheat pasta (200)
1 serving Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta sauce (pictured above) made without olive oil (250)
1 cup mixed green salad with olive oil vinaigrette (100)

Snack:
Cut vegetables (75)
1/2 whole wheat pita (120)

Dinner:
Home-made Thai curry with tofu and light coconut milk (250)
1 cup Thai jasmine scented rice (220)
Cucumber salad with rice vinegar and sesame oil (60)

The menu almost passes the test according to both food guides - it is one serving short on grains according to the Canada Food Guide, with a total caloric intake of 1815 calories. Cutting out one cup of milk or soy milk or cutting out one half cup of rice at dinner would put the menu squarely within my daily recommended caloric intake while still providing a balanced diet. There are no pre-packaged foods, artificial sweeteners, or low-fat substitutes.

Menus are easier to write than to follow, but that's the subject for another post.

Do you consider a food guide when planning your meals?

Image via http://www.veganyumyum.com

Thinking outside the bottle

2008-09-12T05:40:00.021-04:00

Someone recently pointed out that the Perrier in my fridge had to travel all the way from France, while the supermarket's generic brand is from Ontario. That got me thinking: I won't drink bottled water in place of tap water, so why would I drink bottled mineral water?

Yesterday my love of water in tall glass bottles was the subject of a discussion in our household. In the interest of both the grocery budget and the environment, I agreed to stop buying mineral water if my husband stops buying cola.

These two small changes should save about $5 per week from our grocery budget. $5 is the difference between regular and organic fruit or milk, or sprouted multigrain bread instead of regular bread.

I often put out a selection of mineral waters when we have dinner guests, so I'll need a replacement. Some options that are both pretty and delicious in a glass or water pitcher:

Frozen berries
Lemon, lime or orange slices
Lemon verbena or mint leaves
Cucumber slices
Any combination of the above

What change would you like to make to your grocery shopping habits?

The Journal of Small Triumphs

2008-09-11T07:01:00.000-04:00

One thing that many Weight Watchers know is that very few people will congratulate you for not eating a bag of marshmallows. After all, you rarely get credit for doing what you're supposed to do. People without long and complicated relationships with food (who are you? where do you live? WHAT DO YOU EAT???) don't seem to understand the small triumph involved in making good choices, or, as is more often the case, not making bad ones.

To this end I have started a Journal of Small Triumphs. Entries include "I ate the fruit I packed for lunch" and "I did not eat any marshmallows from the cupboard." My favourite entry is "the dog sneezed on my face and I laughed about it." Small triumphs are very personal things.

What is your small triumph today?

Image via http://www.jillbliss.com/

A Banner Year

2008-09-11T06:47:00.001-04:00

2008 has been a banner year. For the first time, I set goals for the year in four areas: personal, professional, relationship and health. As of September I have achieved three of my four goals. And I've still got four months to go.

In addition to focusing on four goals, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I need to do in order to live a more contented life. I think I have figured out what I need:

1) To reduce my ecological footprint
2) To improve my physical, mental and spiritual health
3) To improve my sense of financial security
4) To know that I am being the best friend and partner I can be

The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences implementing these changes. Why blog about it? Because I hope my endeavours to bring joy into the everyday will resonate with other people.