noah considers writing a novel

recently paul borrowed this issue of national geographic from the library. in the article about animal minds, it talks about a border collie named betsy who has a vocabulary of over 300 words! so over breakfast on saturday, paul & i started a list of how many words & phrases our little noah understands. we've been adding to it as we think of more but this is what we're up to so far. (oh, by the way, we only listed the word/phrase if he reacts to it in a predictable way. very scientific!)

*in no particular order*
1. stay
2. cookie
3. park
4. kibble
5. Noah
6. grandma
7. grandpa
8. car ride
9. later
10. hungry
11. outside
12. go (*see note below)
13. sit
14. come
15. nap-time
16. bedtime
17. walk
18. "go get the ball", "where's the ball?"
19. fetch
20. Patrick (neighbour)
21. Bettina (neighbour)
22. Portia (neighbour's dog)
23. Meg (another neighbour)
24. good boy
25. high five
26. shake a paw
27. other paw
28. down
29. "go get it"
30. enough
31. dinner
32. away
33. bed
34. okay
35. mommy
36. daddy
37. chair; "go to your chair"
38. no
39. bath-time
40. kitty cat
41. doggie
42. "go say hi"
43. bone
44. gentle
45. "drop it"
46. pill-time

*note: he actually knows 2 different meanings to this word and can figure it out based on the context. "go" when in the backyard means "go to the bathroom", while "go" at the park means "go run around and get your sillies out".

i'm willing to bet if you made a list for your pet you'd be totally surprised how many words he/she knows. i estimated 25 words for noah before we started this list!

the skirt that dreams were made of

one night last week, i was browsing through my most favourite online shop and happened upon the most beautiful skirt in the world! i was fairly certain this skirt would change my life. but i did the math and realized that with exchange, shipping, and possible duty charges, this skirt could potentially cost me $100 (canadian) or more. i was so tempted but just wouldn't let myself spend that much.

so i visited the skirt online over and over again for the next few days. and then i had a brainstorm...maybe i could find something similar on ebay! and i did... look!


so i set my maximum bid and actually won it! now i have to sit and wait patiently for it to arrive, to see if it looks as pretty in person as it does online. i won't lie...i'm a bit nervous.

it's not a perfect copy but i think it's pretty darn close. i have to admit, i still prefer the modcloth one, especially the waistband part. but i figure i can be creative and make this one work for me.

since the shipping was free (!!), i spent less than $22 (canadian). so in the end, i saved about $80 by not giving in to the skirt of dreams. and i can still sleep well at night....

my childhood online

i've been spending a bit of time perusing the vintage section of etsy and most recently ebay, looking for some good finds. i've been surprised to see some things i had as a child up for sale online. in a couple of cases, they were items i had totally forgotten about until i saw them.

a yellow ladder-style earring stand given to me by my piano teacher & family friend. this one was found at the butler and maid etsy shop.


this was the telephone we had in our living room when i was little. do you have any idea how much i loved to talk on this thing? so fancy! found on ebay.


and my most favourite of finds...one i really wish i had broken down and purchased. this picture hung in my bedroom when i was little. my mom and dad always told me it was a painting of me. i found this on etsy and now i know the truth. hee hee (found at a touch of vintage on etsy)


have you ever found any of your childhood possessions online? did you end up buying them so you could have them around again?

this weekend

hey toronto folks, i'll be at the clothing show this weekend in booth #523. stop by and say hi if you're around!

better living centre, exhibition place
fri. may 1st 3:00 - 9:00
sat. may 2nd 11:00 - 9:00
sun. may 3rd 11:00 - 7:00

saturday morning

-toasted pita with melted monterey jack and veggie salami
-strawberries & kiwi
-decaf tea with honey
-orla kiely dishware & placemat from target (thanks mom!)

long weekends were made for...thrift stores!

hope everyone enjoyed a nice and relaxing long weekend! mine was great...spent it up north with my mom and her side of the family. it was just what i needed!

a bit of the long weekend was spent at various goodwills north of toronto. i found some lovely treasures that i'm very excited to start wearing once the weather warms up a bit. i came home with the 3 dresses you see above, along with 2 lovely vintage slips, a really cute, nearly-new blouse by french connection, a white eyelet skirt to wear petticoat-style under dresses, and a picture frame.

does anyone else find thrift stores 1000 x more exciting when they're in an unfamiliar town or city???

i love the cbc

this is carla and i with our new bff's, steven and chris. hee hee (a girl can dream....) the truth is that carla & i went to see a taping of the steven & chris show at the cbc on friday. it was so much fun to see the "behind the scenes" at a live taping. i'm really bummed that the show has been put on hiatus, one of the sad casualties of the recent cbc cuts.

if i was a millionaire i would personally bail the cbc out of its financial woes myself...that's how much it means to me! but unfortunately i'm not a millionaire so i did what little i could do...i signed a petition started by avaaz.org asking the canadian government to help out cbc, especially if it's going to bail out mega-media corporations like ctv & canwest (as is rumoured...).

if you love the cbc as much as i do and are upset by the proposed 800 job cuts and major cuts to programming, then perhaps you'll want to sign the petition too.(almost 50 000 people have signed it in the last 72 hours!!)

ps: i don't think you don't need to be living in canada to sign the petition either.
you can find the petition here: www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_cbc/