closer...

I was inspired by the sun today (and warmth! and not having to wear a jacket!) and finally did a little planting. I look forward to eating basil with everything (I recently read a recipe for peach and basil sangaria...I forget where, of course). The planter and dish were recently thrifted.

spring! well, not quite yet.

I made this lemon meringue pie for easter last week. Suddenly, while planning what we were going to eat (portobello mushrooms with roasted vegetables and tomato sauce and potato leek timbales), I felt the need for lemon and meringue. It must be this time of year.

After searching online for a recipe, I turned to my copy of Sunset Cookbook of Favorite Recipes. It's a great cookbook. Mostly solid recipes that turn out well and just enough 60s-cover-a-styrofoam-ball-with-coloured-cream-cheese-weirdness to be entertaining. It also belonged to my Nana. Here and there, little notes and adjustments are added in her handwriting. When I first looked at it, I found some very old coupons with her grocery lists on the back. I leave those tucked away, just the way I found them.


It turned out really well despite our lack of a pie plate.

This has been a WIP for awhile though it has evolved. Initally, I picked up this Norgewain sweater at a crazy thrift store with plans to alter it into something like this (there is so much other great stuff like this and this and this and this...).

Six months later and it was still sitting in my 'project/to mend' basket. I wondered if it would work on Aren and low and behold it fit him perfectly! Some new buttons later (off with the faux-pewter plastic, ick) and it's Aren's favourite sweater. I felt it needed a little something more, namely a crest. I sketched something up and decided on a blue and magenta colour scheme. Ta da! Aren's even-more-favorite sweater.

We were joking that it was too bad that he would only get a couple of more weeks wear out it this season. Little did we know that spring doesn't arrive in Toronto until June.

new shoes!

I found these beauties at Value Village for $7.99 and they were brand new. They're North Star, anyone remember that great Canadian brand?

spring bag

I finally made myself something. I love making things for other people and for work but sometimes you just need something nice for yourself, ya know? I used a pattern from Simple Sewing which is beautifully styled and photographed.


Please excuse the wonky stitching. My sewing machine needs to be serviced badly. I added a little surface decoration with good ol' freezer paper stencils, made the interior pocket bigger and the straps shorter.


It's a little floppy so I might reline it with the same denim as the exterior. One day.