Category Archives: Learn

Me? Liebster Blog Award nomination.

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Something wonderful has happened to me, a total newby in the world of blogging! Lena from the blog, Mina Moka nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award for up and coming but still small bloggers this past week.

I am so pleased that Lena took the time to read my blog and think it worthy enough to list as one of her 11. Thank you so much, Lena! My blog is still very much a work in progress, but is sure feels nice to be noticed. This is so encouraging for me, which in turn makes me want to keep going.

In order to qualify for the  Liebster Blog Award, I have to:

  • Answer the 11 questions Lena asked of me,
  • Post 11 random things about myself,
  • Nominate 11 more up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers (not always easy to tell the number of followers),
  • Notify them and link them to my post.
  • Create 11 new questions for these bloggers to answer.
  • Tag backs are not allowed.

To quote Lena at Mina Moka, “Of course it is nice and flattering that it is called ‘award’, but more than anything it is a nice chance to get small blogs a little more attention, to connect and to let your readers find out a little more about yourself”.

So here are Lena’s questions and my answers:

If you could pick any city in the world to live in for one year – which one would that be? London, England without hesitation. From its medieval roots to its innovative contemporary design, it is one of the most fascinating cities to discover and I would love to spend a year doing just that.

Coffee or tea? Coffee! I can’t function without my morning coffee.

Which sense is more important to you: sight or hearing? Sight. As an aesthetic person my pleasure comes from being able to see the beauty around me.

What is your most annoying habit? I can be bossy.

Pick a movie: Fiction or documentary? I must confess I like documentaries. I like to learn while I watch. Its part of my need to multi-task. One of my latest favourites is “Last Call at the Oasis.” A depressing, but ultimately uplifting account of the impending global water crisis.

What was your favorite book as a child? The books I seem to remember reading faithfully were the Nancy Drew series. I have always loved mysteries because I like to figure things out. I like puzzles too!

What is your favorite book today? I still love mysteries but I am not sure I could name one as standing out as the best. I like the author Elizabeth George, and now that I think of it, her stories are usually set in England. One of my favourite fiction books is, “Midnight’s Children” by Salmon Rushdie.

How many close friends do you have? Too many! Thank god for social media because now I can actually keep in touch with them.

Do you like questionnaires? I don’t mind them.

You have won one million (Dollars, Euros, whatever…) in the lottery- and now?  My bags are packed, and I am ready to go live my year of exploration and discovery in London!

How are you today? I feel wonderful. I just spent an intensive week learning some new skills and I feel inspired to take action.

Wait there is more!!

11 random facts about me.

  1. I am a first born. (hence the annoying bossiness)
  2. I am a Leo (again, the bossiness – starting to get the picture?)
  3. I love spinach.
  4. I rarely take no for an answer.
  5. I brush my hair only once a day and that is in the morning.
  6. I love babies.
  7. I give monthly to Amnesty International.
  8. I belong to CISV, an organization dedicated to building global friendships, and to educating and inspiring action for a more just and peaceful world.
  9. I have 3 kids.
  10. My husband is also an architect.
  11. I like rain.

Here are my 11 choices for up and coming bloggers!

  1. Advo Kate
  2. no. 40
  3. sang the bird
  4. homestilo
  5. page thirteen
  6. blissful mediocrity
  7. stay basic
  8. meg melrose
  9. shambolic living
  10. finding the fork in the road
  11. life in sketch

Questions for my 11:

  1. Why did you choose the shoes you are wearing?
  2. What is your favourite colour?
  3. What sunny destination do you like best?
  4. If you could rethink your career path would you have chosen differently?
  5. If you were to eat out tonight what kind of food would you choose?
  6. Would you rather swim or run?
  7. Do you prefer country music or rock n roll?
  8. Do you have kids?
  9. How would your best friend describe you in one sentence?
  10. Where were you born?
  11. Are you a party animal or party vegetable?

I hope you guys are keen to participate because I can’t wait to read your answers! Ciao xo

Photo by Victor Mironenko

 

 

Vintage Love: The Tourist

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One of Graham’s and my favourite things to do when we travel is to visit flea markets, vintage shops and thrift stores.  We have visited these in Santa Barbara, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Seattle as well as many Canadian cities.  In Europe, we have been to the famous Amsterdam flea market, the seemingly endless Portobello Road in London and riverside markets by the Seine in Paris, to name a few.  You may well wonder WHY do we do this.  Well, I think it is part of our tourist curiosity. It is part of really exploring a place in that it tells us something about the city we are visiting.  There is something intimate and unique about looking through peoples discarded treasures. You learn something about the place and the people who live there that conventional retail just doesn’t offer.  The Good Will in Santa Barbara was full of designer clothes and wet suits.  I bought my favourite vase for $5.00 from here.  Graham was not keen on traveling with glass but I told him I would put it in my carry on and would not leave the store without it.  I use that vase regularly and always think about Santa Barbara and how I must get back to that Good Will soon. 

We also bought a pair of beautiful oriental figurines from an antique store in Berkeley, California. They were $25.00 and I had to have them.  I love these Kitschy Chinoiserie figurines from the late 50′s with their incredible verdigris green and gold colour combination. In Paris we bought vintage keys in a used building supply yard and old pocket watch faces in the riverside market in London.

Of course, the main reason we love vintage shopping is the treasure hunt. We secretly hope we are smarter than the average local and will cleverly discover an unrecognized, unappreciated treasure. Or, we imagine that others may find the activity unsavory yet we will sally forth and heroically find the treasure. At any rate, travel is not about consuming generic, prefab souvenirs (Did I get this at the Chicago or San Francisco Macy’s?) Authentic tourist-vintage-love is about bringing home a unique item that is specific to its place.  Let’s face it, a chain store item can be found almost anywhere but a vintage piece from a quirky, backstreet shop is a one-of-a-kind memento.

It’s also a great way to meet interesting people, either shoppers or shopkeepers who share your interest in the unusual, esoteric world of vintage.  They often have a sophisticated appreciation of a piece’s history and origins and this inevitably leads to a bit of local lore – sometimes even a touch of celebrity – like when we happened upon Leonard Cohen’s daughter’s shop in L.A.  So next time you travel be bold and venture off the main drag.  Look for that charming down-market area, with that dowdy/funky little shop to discover something unexpected, fun and most likely affordable.  You’ll find yourself with a cool souvenir plus a great story to go with it.

A.J. Donahue’s ‘Winnipeg Chair’

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My husband, Graham, and I have always had an affinity for chair collecting.  Over the years we have found and gone through many chairs.  Usually we think we will recover them but often we don’t.  Eventually we give them away or ‘store’ them in friends’ cabins. Graham found this chair at our local ‘Sellution’ consignment store.  He was immediately drawn to its design.  We did some research and found out it had a name and a very interesting history.

The ‘Winnipeg Chair’, also known as, the Canadian Coconut Chair, was designed by an Architect by the name of A.J. Donahue.   A.J. studied at Harvard with Marcel Breuer in the 1940s and explored techniques of bent wood furniture construction. After Harvard, Donahue settled in Winnipeg to teach architecture. Donahue developed his lounge chair, according to Rachel Gottlieb’s book Design in Canada (Design Exchange, 2001), in the late 1940′s in his basement with the assistance of his students. Donahue only produced about 200 examples of the chairs and we happen to have one of them.

The Winnipeg chair bears some resemblance to George Nelson’s Coconut chair—which actually wasn’t introduced until much later, in 1955.  According to Tim Borys, founder of the new furniture company HutJ, which is reissuing the Winnipeg chair, “That’s a classic Canadian story. Here’s a great design that gets swept under the rug and then it gets knocked off five years later,” Borys says, before remembering his Canadian manners. “I’ll be careful where I push that story. I don’t want to offend anyone.”