sunday afternoon rock show

the indie rock music gods must have been on my side yesterday. julie doiron, my most favourite-ist singer ever, was playing a free show at a local music store yesterday afternoon. and even though i left the house terribly late and was worried i wouldn't even get in the door, i managed to score a spot to sit front and centre.


it was an amazing surprise to see that mike of snailhouse also showed up to play at the in-store. i went to see julie and didn't realize he'd be there. he is such an amazing singer and writes the lovliest songs. i kid you not, i actually got goosebumps when he sang. GOOSEBUMPS!....in 40 degree (celsius) weather! i listened to a bit of his new cd at the listening station and it sounds incredible.


julie and mike sang backup and played during each other's songs. their voices are so pretty together.


if you haven't heard of either of these artists, you can hear julie play some live stuff here. you can also listen to a few selected snailhouse tracks here and here. i think you'll like it...

slacking off

forgive me everyone, for i have sinned. it's been 6 whole days since my last bloggy entry...

i guess that's to be expected now that summer is in full effect. the weather has heated up and all i want to do is get out of the house and do stuff. anything and everything. i'm hoping once school is out (4 days and counting) i'll have a bit of extra time to post with more regularity.

these past few days have been busy and fun. on thursday night we broke out of the weeknight routine and met up with andrew and sabine at the beaver cafe for dinner. the beaver is a great little restaurant in parkdale. we sat out on the patio and chatted over some very yummy food and iced tea with little umbrella garnishes. then we all headed over to gallery 1313 to see the installations for the parkette exhibition, including karina's.

last night we went to a housewarming party of fellow east-enders, sheri and mardi. they are a couple of local artists who make really amazing resin jewellery. (note to mom: they made the necklace paul gave you for christmas a couple of years ago).
here's an example of what they make.

it was so exciting to see their home studio. it's way bigger (and more organized) than ours. i got some great storage ideas for my own little workspace though. anyhow, it was a wonderful surprise to walk into the party and see our friend, tim! paul had just run into him earlier that night and came home saying "i saw tim tonight in our 'hood. he must know someone in the east end." an hour later he was at the door at sherri and mardi's. too funny.

after the party, it was a beautiful night so we took noah for a late-night walk up and down our street. we met a really nice couple who live up the street and ended up talking to them for about 45 minutes. turns out we have a lot in common. it was so nice to meet some cool people on our street because sometimes we get annoyed by the sketchy folks who seem to take over our neighbourhood at times.

finally, i got a much-needed haircut this week. in my obsession with before and afters, i took these photos.



paul says he can't see a difference! how can that possibly be? look at that ratty hair in the before picture! ugh.

happy father's day

since i introduced everyone to my mom on mother's day, it seems only fitting that i introduce you to my dad today.

everyone, this is dad.


here are a few things you should know about ed...

* he's a big joker and loves making people laugh
* when it comes to fixing things around the house, he knows better than to try it himself. (but he's awesome at calling a professional to do it)
* he started out as a dj at the local radio station and one of my earliest memories is of my mom saying, "who's that on the radio?" and me exclaiming "daddy!!"
* he likes to sing really loud. sometimes he even gets a few of the words right
* even though we butt heads politically sometimes, he's not nearly as conservative as he used to be
* without a doubt, he's the hardest worker i know. he puts 150% into everything he does
* he's not just a great dad but an incredible friend

happy father's day, dad! i love you!

my new favourite

oh my god, i can't get enough of threadbared.com. a couple of very funny women have put together a blog that pokes fun at the illustrations on vintage sewing patterns or craft book covers. i wish i could link you directly to some of my favourite entries but unfortunately every page has the same url. so just trust me on this.

start off by checking out the entry from monday called "Early 70s Precursor To The Evil That Is Anne Geddes". (if you don't know who anne geddes is, look here first.) and i almost split a gut going through the "craft" catagory archives when i first discovered the website awhile back.

hope you enjoy!
xo krissy

woot!

i really wanted to go to the church of craft meet, dude show, and the bata shoe museum today but i had to stay home and work on report cards. (pout)

but now i'm doing a happy dance because i'm DONE!! reports are done, spellchecked, saved to disk and ready to hand in tomorrow! and it's still light outside!

WOOT WOOT!

summer just (unoffically) began 10 minutes ago.

the latest in doggy couture

last weekend at woofstock, paul bought noah the cutest little deconstructed t-shirts for winter!

grrr...i'm a badass! look, i'm wearing a skull on my shirt.


and every little boy needs a shirt with race cars on it (even though you can't really see them in the picture)


and yay, they make cute stuff for humans, too! (i'm eyeing the kate, juliet, and princess shirts and lolita skirt)

p.s. coincidentally, nadia also took pictures of her adorable doggies modelling shirts this week. so cute!!

lock up your petunias

yesterday after my little shoe shopping spree, i stopped into home depot to get some gardening gloves. yes, my very first pair of gardening gloves.

they have tomatoes on them. wheee!


i also found some little plant cutters (don't laugh...i have no idea what they are called.) up until now we've been using some dollar store scissors to cut back our plants and bushes. now not only do i have tomato-print gloves but i have...cutters!

here i am pretending to hack away at the one houseplant we've managed to keep alive. poor little thing.

little miss sensible shoes finally writes about...SHOES!

my family has bemoaned the fact that the name of this blog doesn't exactly fit with the content. more than one person has said, "how come you never write about shoes?". so this is for you, people.

today is about day #5 or 6 or i don't know, of stinkin' hot, sweaty, HOT weather. don't get me wrong...i'm so not complaining. i'll take this any day over snow and slush! but my feet could not take another minute in my high tops.

you would think that a girl who names her blog, "i *heart* sensible shoes" would be a shoe fiend. an addict! but i'm not. i like shoes, but frankly my list of requirements that make shoes sensible (to me) makes shoe shopping a bit of a chore. so i basically live in these maryjanes or more often than not, these chucks.

both are way too hot for this weather.

so i went straight to my local payless and tried on about 6 pairs of shoes that would not require socks and/or would finally let my toesies breathe.

i brought home these:


and these:


they fit almost all of the necessary requirements.
*no leather? (check!)
*affordable? (check!)
*comfortable? (check!)
*cute? (the jury's still out on that one)

the thing is i don't think the blue espedrilles will go with anything in my closet. but i do think they're kinda cute even though they are a little twee for my style.

the black ones are a little too preppy, i think. but they are soooo comfy! and again, totally don't fit my style. even less so than pair #1. but at least they're black and if not style-wise, at least colourwise they will go with more stuff.

gah! please feel free to express your thoughts and opinions on this very pressing issue.

the rage!

last night was the grand opening party for a new clothing/accessory store called the rage. it is a very cool new place in kensington market in toronto. (you might remember few weeks ago i mentioned that i was getting an order ready for it.) sarah, the owner, held a big party ~with lots of candy~ last night and the tiny little store was packed with people! so many people showed up that the party spilled out onto the sidewalk

my favourite thing about the rage is that sarah has hand-picked really new, unknown local designers to feature their stuff in her store. i haven't seen anything like the stock she has anywhere else in the city.

here are a few pictures from last night.




last night was party-time, today is report-card-writing time. blech. it's too nice outside to be stuck in front of a computer all day. :(

killer tomatoes and the northern lights

i'm sure i'm not the only person who gets like this, but for the past few months i feel like i've been in a food rut. it's like we always end up making the same dinners week after week just because they're easy. so last night i got the idea to try and replicate the two most delicious sandwiches i've ever tasted. the killer tomato and the northern lights, both from cafe santropol in montreal.

so if you are like me and need to try something new for dinner (but scream and run the other way if there are too many ingredients) you should give these a try. (except if you're not into dairy)

killer tomato
chop up a whole bunch of sundried tomatoes. mix with really soft cream cheese (like the "western" brand). if you feel like it, cut up some fresh tomato slices. slice some yummy and sorta fancy bread, like the stuff from a bakery. spread the cream cheese/sundried tomato mixture on the bread. top with fresh tomatoes. inhale!
*this is also good with some chopped pecans thrown in, although they don't do that at santropol.

northern lights
chop up or slice green olives (with pimentos). mix with soft cream cheese. throw in a small handful of chopped pecans and mix. spread cream cheese/olive/pecan mixture onto some fresh bakery-style bread. enjoy!

if you ever go to montreal, you have to go to cafe santropol. not only are the sandwiches out of this world, but the patio is a little oasis...full of plants, lush trees and the odd squirrel running about.

sucking up the food and atmosphere on their patio.

spun

i just got back from a 3-hour workshop on how to spin wool with a drop spindle. oh. my. gawd! i suck.

i had lofty dreams of making lovely handspun skeins of art like my paper crane, crafty ass chick, and misshawklet. i don't think it's going to happen anytime soon though.

the good news is that the materials were included with the cost of the workshop so i got a drop spindle to keep and practice on (or use for mashing potatoes) and a HUGE pile of pretty wool! chocolate brown, white, and hot pink! if i don't master the art of spinning wool at least i can use the roving with my new needle felting kit!


the class was 3 hours long and about half of that time was for learning to use the drop spindle. that means it took me approximately 1.5 hours to spin this



it is the size of a grape.

oh well, it was fun to get out and learn something new anyway.

deals of the day

first off, i want to thank everybody so much for the nice birthday wishes you left for me! it was like opening another little present everytime i saw a new greeting from somebody. you sure know how to make an old girl happy! hee hee

***

today after work i headed over to the "more than just a yardage sale" at the textile museum. it is a massive annual sale of all things crafty and fabric-arts-related. you can find tons of fabric, yarn, sewing patterns, notions, craft books, etc. at the sale. i've only been once, a couple of years ago i think, but it was quite picked over by the time i got there. today i managed to get there much earlier and got a few good deals.

the sale was packed with people, but for some reason my pictures don't really show how crowded it was.
this is the fabric area under the tent


and the yarn area. (i think i see an actual man in the foreground. poor soul.)



for exactly $10 total, i got the following goodies.

some yarn


a ziploc baggy of buttons (these are the best of the bunch) and some cute plastic buckles (i've been looking everywhere for these to make belts!)


a vintage craft book from 1969 called "creative needlework". not only does it have some cute ideas for projects, but it also shows how to do over 80 embroidery stitches! i seriously did not even realize there were that many different stitches in embroidery!
i love the applique on this pink pillow (this sold me on the book). i think it would be cute on a purse or at the bottom corner of a skirt.


and another vintage craft book called "the big book of soft toys" from 1972. i had to get it because it has so many cute patterns! a bunch of them remind me of the amazing things people are making for the "month of softies" project.
look at this kangaroo from the book!


i so need to start playing around with my sewing maching...uh, like learning how to thread it would be a good start.

happy birthday for me

yesterday was my 34th birthday. i wasn't even going to mention it, except paul took me out for a yummy dinner and spoiled me rotten with some pretty awesome gifts, so i thought you'd enjoy seeing the pictures.

we went to my most favourite veggie restaurant in toronto...king's cafe. i know i talk about this place a lot (it's where we went for paul's b-day dinner and where we get our fake meat), but it's really worth all the hype.

we ate the most delicious avocado temaki...


...bean curd with hoisin sauce and fried rice.


for dessert we went to dairy queen and i indulged in a chocolate-dipped cone. this particular dairy queen has the most incredible view of the don valley and toronto skyline.


paul totally spoiled me! i got some pretty semi-precious-stone beads and a new wallet. it's pink! it has a picture of blythe! it's leather-free! it has a million compartments! in summary, it is the most spectacular wallet ever. (my old wallet was rapidly disintegrating before my eyes)


he also bought me a starter kit for needle felting! now i can learn to make cool stuff like supermaggie and lili la malice.


oh, and i almost forgot. he included 2 sheets of cute japanese stickers he found in chinatown. look at the cute smiling cellphones! (the sheet also has smiling tv's, toasters, and lightbulbs).


even the card he chose was adorable. i'm not sure if you can see the line at the top, but it says "happy birthday for you". hee!

i can't believe i'm about to share this with the world

sorry i've been missing in action for a few days but i was up north at my mom's place getting spoiled. when i got back on sunday i could not stand the clutter that had overtaken the studio a minute longer. i'm a little shy about sharing my horrifying images of chaos with the world but i've included "after" shots to prove i really have improved. well, and also because i'm a sucker for "before and after"s whether they come in the form of ambush makeover, what not to wear, or extreme makeover: home edition. hopefully you'll enjoy the krissy edition of ambush studio makeover: how not to live.

here's the "before" picture of my computer desk.


and after!



my studio desk "before"


and after!


aahhh...that feels better!

my package arrived!

this morning my pretty pink package arrived in the mail from karen, the girl who got my name in the colour-theme swap. i can't believe how generous she was! the box was bursting with pink goodies! she has incredible taste...every single thing she sent me i absolutely love! look at all the great stuff.

a pretty pink purse


a pink organizing box where most of the little trinkets were tucked away. also an absolutely gorgeous pink vintage scarf. i wish the picture had turned out better.


so many pretty glass beads, some cute hairclips, and buttons with a bunny face on them!
(these were all tucked and wrapped inside the pink case)


these beautiful vintage beads. i loooovvve vintage beads!


and some pretty pink fabric, cute little chopsticks, oodles and oodles of ribbon, and a lucky cat charm.


thank you soooo much, karen! you made my first-ever-swap so much fun!!

swappy

today i mailed out my package for the colour theme swap over at glitter. it was supposed to go out on friday but one of the things i made took waaaayyyy longer than anticipated. i really needed the weekend (including those 2 hours at church of craft yesterday) to finish it up. the good news is that it cost almost the exact same price to send the parcel expresspost as regular mail, so she'll get it by wednesday.

i can't show you all the little goodies i sent until after i know she gets it but here's what everything looked like after i wrapped it all up. hmmm...can you guess which colour she chose?



i chose pink...i can't wait to get my package! mail is so much fun to get...when it isn't a bill!

in other swappy news, i found out today that robin is game for doing a jewellery swap with me! yay! who wouldn't be thrilled to be sending stuff to girl who calls herself friendbunny?! i've already started thinking of ideas...

crafting with kilmer

it has been a busy weekend in these parts. yesterday our friends andrew and sabine came over and we took them out for dinner at our favourite indian restaurant. the place has absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever, but the food is always so yummy. i think they liked it. after dinner we came back to our house and had drinks and chatted. paul took this picture from the stairs. that's sabine in the middle and andrew looking up, at the bottom of the picture.


today i met up with a friend named carla who i haven't seen for awhile, and another girl named lisa, who i met through glitter. the 3 of us went to a church of craft meeting in a park. it was really fun and relaxing just to sit around and knit and talk. the tree that we sat under had this hanging from it.

look closely...that's a plywood cloud with val kilmer's face as "raindrops". i don't know if this just happens in toronto or not, but there are people who put posters up around the city with val kilmer's face on them. they also write his name graffiti-tag style around the city. i know, it's kinda weird.. but it was amusing to be sitting under this little val kilmer art installation in the park.

after church of craft, i went over to kensington market to grab some food for dinner. i snapped this picture of my favourite place to buy fresh produce. i love the colours in this photo!


while i was in the market, i also bought some fake meat from 'king's cafe'. i got soy tuna (which is delicious when baked in foil with olive oil and lemon) and soy drumsticks (which taste so much like chicken wings when we cook them in bbq sauce). the drumsticks have the texture of chicken and they even have little wooden skewers as "bones"!


i was so happy to find the new location of alchemy bakery. the man who owns this bakery is an artist, no kidding! he makes the most wonderful bread, like i've never tasted before! we always get our favourite...potato and herb focaccia. it has big chunks of sea salt sprinkled on top. mmmmm! the owner is the nicest guy, too. i don't even need to tell him what i want...he always remembers!


i hope you had a good weekend, too!

random bits

here are some random bits of what i've been doing/thinking about/buying over the last few days.

1. after months of having my name on the hold list for scarf style, i finally got my hands on a copy. oh, how i love goodies from the library!

i especially want to make these 2 patterns from the book.




2. i have had "combat baby" by metric in my head all week. if you ever decide to start up your own cult, i think you need to commission metric to compose your theme song. your followers will be singing your subliminal messages to themselves all day without even realizing it.

3. paul and i are in a food rut right now but he dreamed up this yummy supper a few days ago. grilled veggie salad. we grilled up some portabella mushrooms and red peppers and put them on top of mixed greens. cut up some gouda in small cubes and bob's yer uncle. it was sooo yummy!


4. i've been in a panic ever since i learned that patons has discontinued my most favourite wool, upcountry. after scouring ebay and other online wool shops, i decided the only way i was going to get my hands on some chocolate brown and baby pink was to get it from my teeny tiny hometown. i asked my dad to do a yarn run for me and even terms like "dye lot" didn't scare him off. yesterday my lovely stash arrived in the mail! thank you sooo much dad! xo
(here's some yarn porn for my fellow online addicts.)


5. i scored some lovely polkadot socks at dollarama. yes, i paid one whole dollar for them. they aren't even scratchy. the question is, will they last the first trip through the wash?