Eating Animals

Martin and I both read the book "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer over the holidays. It's a non-ficton book about the author's switch to vegetarianism after researching where meat actually comes from. I'm not sure if it's Safran Foer's fiction background that makes the book so convincing, but he really manages to bring home the horrors of factory farming in a way that makes it real. As he points out in the book, most of us on some level know what is happening at factory farms - but manage not to think about it too much. I'm not going to go into the specifics of the book here - but would encourage everyone to read it.

Martin and I have been vegetarian (with a few lapses, mainly on my part) for many years - but this book has inspired us to try to eat even fewer animal based foods (eggs, milk, etc.) and if we do eat those foods, to learn more about where they have come from and how they are produced. I have been cooking lots of vegan dishes lately, and have purchased a few cookbooks - Vegan Yum Yum (both the book and the blog) are great. I have made some delicious bananna bread from the Vegan Yum Yum book two times now - and Martin reckons it's the best he's had. I also made some choc chip cookies from Babycakes - those were not quite as successful, but I think that's my fault, not the book's! Adding a bit to the challenge of cooking vegan is that I am trying to cut back on gluten as well. Tonight, we will be having Smitten Kitchen's Mushroom Bourguignon - I'm really looking forward to it!

If anyone out there has any suggestions on great vegan/gluten free recipes and/or cookbooks - please send them my way! Now, to the bourguignon....

Tegan and Sara

Saw Tegan and Sara last night and they were really great. Lots of material from their new album "Sainthood" (which I am not that familiar with - yet) and lots of old faves. I love the photo of them and their band from their blog. If you aren't familiar with Tegan and Sara, I would highly recommend checking them out - they are one of my favorites!

Picnik

I have been working the last week or so on photographing and uploading my stock to Etsy, and I have been using Picnik as my photo editing software. It's a free online program (but I upgraded to premium service which allows more uploads and a few more effects for $24.95 per year) and I really like it. I have taken a Photoshop course, but could never seem to get the hang of it. I find Picnik really intuitive, and they have all kinds of cool effects - I can do polaroids, cross process, sepia, etc. - all in the click of a button. Something that (for a novice like me) would take many, many button clicks in Photoshop. Picnik also seamlessly links up with photo sharing sites like Flickr - but I haven't really explored that feature yet.

Back to listing!

Cool Viennese Shop - Motmot

First in what might become a series of cool shops I saw in Vienna - Motmot. They sell great t-shirts, zines and ceramics with graphics of their own design - the photo above is just one of the great offerings on their website. I bought Martin a fantastic t-shirt for x-mas that says "chimps are people too" with a big chimp head on it - love! The best bit is that you don't have to go all the way to Vienna to get some great Motmot merchandise because they have an online shop - enjoy!

Photo Albums in the Shop

I'm getting a cramp in my hands from listing so many photo albums - the shop has never been so full! Head on over and check it out....

Vienna - Old and New

Another shot I like from the trip - the old meets the new.

Back in the swing?

I don't know where to start in talking about my amazing holiday trip to Vienna. We had so many great experiences, met so many wonderful people, spent time with people we love, ate so much yummy food...and, well - it was just the best. We have been to Vienna a few times now and just love the city - it's beautiful and feels accessible and safe. The holiday season there is especially nice - everywhere you go there are Christmas markets selling "punsch" - a hot alcoholic drink that is delicious and all sorts of yummy Austrian foods. Christmas traditions are taken really seriously with things like real candles on Christmas trees. I love the fact that people take the time to stop and relax in front of their Christmas trees playing music and having a drink - I think that so often we don't take the time to stop and appreciate all the work that goes into the holidays.


That brings me to another thing I love about Vienna - it's just a different way of life. People stop and linger in cafes (above is me and my brother-in-law Stephen at Cafe Dreschler - an art deco cafe), shop at fresh food markets - things are busy as in any city - but I feel that there is also an appreciation of all those little things that make life special.

We just had so much fun - the photo of us above during a visit to Graz sums it up - we goofed off - a lot. I'm just going through all my photos now (and editing some in Picnik and adding groovy effects, as in the first two above) and might post more soon and talk about some more experiences - but it's hard to put the whole thing into words. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things at home, but I'm not quite there yet.

In other news, I'm trying to photograph lots of the stock I brought back from OOAK to post on Etsy - have a look at ye olde shoppe to see what I've posted.

I'm off...

In a couple of hours, I will be jetting off to Vienna for my holidays! I probably won't have time to post, so I want to wish you all happy holidays! I'll be back in the New Year with posts about my trip, and my One of a Kind wrap up (better late than never!).

Bye for now!

Trudi

One of a Kind Show Recap

We arrived back from the One of a Kind Show on Tuesday night, after doing the 5 day section of the show. It was an amazing - and exhausting - experience. The show opened on Thursday, November 26th and we arrived on Tuesday, November 24th to set up. We spent the day on

Tuesday running around - going to Ikea to get our shelving, picking up our books, all that fun stuff.

So, it took all of Tuesday and most of Wednesday to get our booth together, and I was fairly happy with the results. Not too bad considering it was put together on the spot! We were really busy for the duration of the show and met many wonderful customers and fellow vendors. I plan to do a whole post on the things I bought, and things that I wanted to buy!

This is me in the booth (cringe - messy hair and zits). Like I said, it was pretty exhausting - 11 hour days on my feet. The seams in my boots even split from all the strain! I learned so much, which I will also share in a future post. But for now, I've got my aching feet up for the first time in ages. I'll be back on Monday with more to share. I also hope to have an etsy shop update soon - I am just awaiting the return of some leftover stock from the show. Until then - ciao!

Hello from T.O.

Wow - it's been a while since I did a post! I've been so busy getting ready for the One of a Kind Show that the last month has just flown by. We're in Toronto now, and the show is opening tomorrow! It's been a hectic couple of days - getting up at 4 am to catch our flight, driving to IKEA to get the stuff for our booth and unpacking all those boxes - more details and photos later...

Anyhow, I'm so looking forward to the show tomorrow, and to meeting all my Toronto readers. If you stop by the booth (N36) make sure to say "hi." Also - it's not too late to get a voucher for $3 off your admission when you buy your ticket online. Just comment with your email address and I will send one out to you. It may take me a few hours to reply though because (hopefully!) I will be too busy to get to my computer.

Happy Crappy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Vienna

I'm excited to announce that we are going to spend Christmas in Vienna this year! We are going to see Martin's brother, and stay with him in this great city. This photo is one I took on our last (very brief) trip there in 2004. It's an understatement to say that I'm excited about it - we've been working really hard this year, and this trip is exactly what we need. Spending time with family, walking around the beautiful streets, eating pastries, hanging out at the cafes, amazing art...we have been to Vienna a few times now and never tire of it. It's a bit like another home for us with lots of good memories. Only about 9 weeks to go and we'll be there!

Ocean Dog Rescue

Ocean Dog Rescue is a dog adoption program based in Vancouver that brings abandoned dogs to find families in Canada from Taiwan. It's an amazing organization - everytime I look at their website, I feel both happy and sad. The stories of these dogs are heartbreaking - the sad part, but next to their photos, I often see the caption "adoption pending" - happy!

And look at these faces!

Hair Inspiration

I've got an appointment to get a haircut next week and I want to do something a bit different, maybe radically different. I've been looking online for inspiration, and - after pages and pages of Katie Holmes and Posh Spice celebrity 'dos - stumbled across wip hairport's flickr stream. A very cool salon located in Lisbon, Portugal, wip hairport offers original, flattering cuts. I love the photos they take of their clients on the cobbled streets of Lisbon too, like the one above.

I am not sure what I'll do with my hair - I had it shoulder length for years, got it cut into a bob about a year ago and loved that it was lower maintenance, thinking that going super short would be the lowest maintenance ever, very appealing...but, I will probably chicken out at the last minute and walk out with a bob again. I'll let you know...

Anyhow - if you are looking for hair inspiration and want something a bit different from the celebrity options, check out wip hairport. If you're in Lisbon - you could actually go get your hair cut there - how cool is that?

One of a Kind Gift Guide

I am pleased to announce that my books are being featured in this year's Toronto One of a Kind Show Christmas gift guide! I am so happy to see them there amongst lots of other great items - I think that the show is going to be full of temptations for me - I will have to set aside a budget to go shopping!
I also love the styling of the gift guide - it's divided into sections and each has a kind of "lifestyle" shot. If you look closely, you'll see my books on the dressing table in this one. Credits for all the other amazing items (I love everything in this photo, by the way) can be found in the gift guide. I'd like to thank the organizers of the One of a Kind Show for featuring me in the guide, and I'd also like to thank all my readers in the Toronto area - just comment on this post with your email address, and I will send you a coupon to get $3 off your show admission! Look forward to seeing you there!

I'm ready for my closeup....

A couple was vacationing in Banff and had set their camera on a self timer to take a photo when this curious squirrel wandered into the shot. THE.CUTEST.THING.EVER. Read more here.

Julie & Julia

I saw Julie & Julia the other night, and I thought it was just fantastic. It seems that everyone who saw the movie is saying this, but Meryl Streep's performance as Julia Child is just amazing and, as much as I love Amy Adams, I couldn't wait until the Meryl/Julia storyline was back on screen. I have also read Julia Child's "My Life in France" and found her story very inspiring. I just like the fact that at around the same age as me - 37 - she discovered her passion for cooking and turned it into a career. Late bloomers rule!

Mini Break

We are back from our "mini break" in the Annapolis Valley. We had a truly wonderful time. We were only there for two days, but each day was glorious and sunny - which is pretty special in a summer that's been 90% rain so far! We went back to the same cottage we've stayed in for the past three years - it's a cute little place right on Evangeline Beach with views of Cape Split in the background. The little fellow above is an Inukshuk made by some previous tenants.

We visited many of our old Valley haunts, including the Port Pub (twice!), the farmer's market and some new favorites - a photo above is from the Gaspereau Vineyards, where we did a fun tour. We also went blueberry picking, but only lasted about 15 minutes in the hot sun - farmers we ain't. The blueberries were tasty and plentiful though, and we managed to pick quite a few in that time.

Evenings were spent walking along the beach and cooking dinners made from our farmer's market bounty. The Bay of Fundy has amazing tides - in the afternoon the water came right up to the edge of the backyard but by early evening it had receded so far we could walk along the mud flats.

When the sun set, we had a fire in the backyard chiminea and played crazy eights. My idea of a perfect mini break. We are thinking of staying for a whole week next year.

Stompin' Tom

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted! I have spent the last few weeks of this rainy summer knee deep in paper and ribbon. But - I'm taking a bit of a break this week and spending a night on the South Shore and a couple of days in the Valley. And - tomorrow night my Nan is visiting and we are going to see Stompin' Tom, who is a bit of a Canadian Icon, especially for us here on the East Coast. He sings about all the things that we hold dear - getting drunk on Saturday night, pick up trucks, hockey and...potatoes. Enjoy the video, and I'll be back next week with photos of my trip.

babycakes

I have recently decided to make a committment to eating healthier food - less wheat, yeast and sugar - but cakes are still very important to me. So, I am thrilled to be the owner of this babycakes nyc cookbook. Their cupcakes were voted the best in New York -not best vegan cupcake, but best cupcake - period. I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes in this book, but will need to make a special trip to the health food store to find all the ingredients. I will let you know how things turn out.