Loenne and I are making an appearance on the Charlie Boutique blog at the moment. Babies make such great accessories. Everyone should go out and get one for spring 2010.
(Kidding, of course! I didn’t have a baby to be more stylish, if only! My style choices these days can be summed up by two questions- Can I breastfeed in it? Does it smell? If the answers are Yes and No, respectively, then, well. . . )
Charlie is a great little boutique on West Queen West. Erin, the owner, brings in mostly Canadian labels- she has been my best supporter since the beginning. It’s always a pleasure to visit her shop!
I am in hot pursuit of my New Year’s resolutions, specifically, #5- open an Etsy store. I am having a hard time deciding what to call it. Butikofer is too complicated. I’m over it, and thinking of changing my name to something easier, like ‘ball’ or maybe even just “ba”. Then everyone could pronounce it, including babies.
When I say I am having a hard time deciding, please read- fun time deciding. I am leaving all angst behind along with my twenties. Here are the choices so far- please vote at the end! Are you reading this right now? Vote!
Amazing Etsy Store Name #1- Future Perfect
Explanation: Future Perfect wasn’t my idea, it was a gift, a suggestion from a fashion fairy godmother. I think it describes a philosophy, a direction, a movement. I like the idea of creating pieces that are without reference to a specific time period, even the present. But at the same time, of course anything I make is always about the future. Real fashion is always about the fantasy of the future. I am refining the way I design to be simpler and seasonless and Future Perfect feels like it lives on the same planet as the new me.
Amazing Etsy Store Name #2- Joyful Noise
Explanation: Joyful Noise came to me while I was in the theatre watchin Avatar. Random, I don’t know how it popped into my head but there it was. It makes a lot of sense to my soul. I contain a pulse of exuberance in this spot just below my rib cage, occasionally in the tension of my shoulders. Joyful Noise is more of a wish than reality, the wish that I could just scream and dance and sing in my low and loud soulful voice, without feeling like I am being too annoying ! Or making anyone uncomfortable! Sometimes I don’t care, sometimes I do. So the fashion is an expression of that joyful noise, it can be as loud and brash, or quiet and restrained as I feel at the moment.
speaking of energy. . .
Amazing Etsy Store Name #3- Explosion of Life
Explanation- The phrase Explosion of Life is something I’ve been carrying around in my psyche for quite a few years. It rolls off the tongue of my mind every so often. I think I once wanted to design a collection around an explosion of life, full of unexpected surprises and hidden bursts of colour. I often wish I was a trained dancer. Like when I hear the song ‘Sex On Fire’ by The Kings Of Leon- I wish that I was on a stage and dancing, maybe even with no clothes on, or removing them throughout. Okay, basically, if I was a stripper- that would be my signature number, the closer. Something about it makes me want to rip off all my clothes and dance around! Is that so wrong? When I hear that song, I can feel that dance trying to get out and sometimes it brings tears to my eyes. Happy ones. And occasionally the clothes that I make are like those happy little tears that manage to escape when I am holding the Explosion of Life inside.
Shocking news!!! According to a recent poll, 3/3 Canadians agree that the following recipe is better than Kraft Dinner.
Pasta Fagioli (recipe courtesy of my Mother In Law)
2-3 teaspoons olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 19oz can white kidney beans
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
water
3 cups dry pasta (something similar in size to the beans, like macaroni or tubetti)
In a medium saucepan, saute garlic in the olive oil until tender, but not brown. Add the whole can of beans, unrinsed, and one almost full can of water. Simmer over medium heat for 20-30 minutes, until sauce is reduced and slightly thickened.
In the meantime, cook pasta according to directions in salted water. Drain.
Combine bean sauce and pasta, and stir in parmesan cheese. Serve.
I love dill, it’s my favourite herbe. This is my Grandma’s recipe- no one can make it like she can, but give it a shot!
Dill Soup
1/2 onion, diced
2 cups fresh dill, chopped fine
large potato, cubed small
1/2 cup rice
salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp vinegar (or a little more. . . )
Soften onion in a little butter or olive oil in a medium-large pot. Add half a pot of water. Add dill, potato, rice and s + p. Cook until tender. Beat egg and add to sour cream and vinegar. Warm this up slowly by adding a bit of the soup in batches until it is hot enough to add to the remaining soup (without cooking the egg). Warm it up a little more. . . serve.
Great with sandwiches.
Fun Fact: As you may know, dill comes in too big bunches. After you’ve used it for what you intended it for, it usually ends up going bad in the fridge, like, “what the fun am I going to do with all this dill? ” (southern accent) One time I bought a bunch to make this soup, and since I had some left over I also made a yogurt-dill type salad dressing. Both the leftover dill soup and dressing were in the fridge. Dom came home from work one day and warmed himself up a bowl of “dill soup”. I walked in on him at the table trying to eat the “soup”, which was actually the salad dressing! Hot yogurt salad dressing! Ew! He wasn’t too happy. So anyway, anytime I mention making dill soup he makes an exaggerated sad face and shakes his head. I don’t know if he will ever enjoy it again.
We once saw two tumbleweeds travelling along the 401. It was a super fun moment that I shall never forget.
So I skipped another season. Poof! I started designing fall 2010, sourced fabrics- some really great ones. I had a tight little 15 piece collection designed and then. . . nothing.
So basically, not having a studio space is killing me. That was the main reason for another skipped season, something that I will hopefully solve in less than 2 months when we move into our new house, which is beginning to seem like a unicorn. I am aching to make something. Anything.
What do you do when you can’t sew? You make soup. You shop for tiles. You turn shopping for tiles into a part time job, relishing in the indecision. You design a house in your head and spend way too much time looking online for a modern looking navy blue tufted extra long couch.
I am working on a list of New Year’s resolutions, design wise. My new year/new decade will start on March 21st, coinciding with being settled in our new home, the spring equinox, and my 30th birthday. I am not that bent out of shape about turning 30, like popular media dictates I’m supposed to be. Drama! I am, however, planning a karaoke/fondue party that is going to be stellar! I hope everybody’s ready for a little Fleetwood Mac, because we all know I’ll be cranking out the hits all night long. I will make a shirt emblazoned with “KARAOKE BOSS” and maybe “WHO STOLE MY FONDUE STICK” on the back. Yeah, fork, I know.
List:
1) 2010 is the year of the purge. I aim to use up as much as I can of what I have in my stash.
2) Make everything myself. Sorry Canada, I am no longer going to be contributing to the economy. Sorry contractors.
3) Invest in a coverstitch machine and a digital SLR so I can make skinny sweats myself, and can be my own photographer.
4) Theme? Spend less money. Pay off debt.
5) Open an Etsy store. Seems like a good idea.
6) Make simple, elegant, seasonless clothes.
7) One offs are okay. So are small runs, and in season collections.
8) Make some clothes for Loenne, finally!
9) Maybe try to actually blog about fashion occasionally.
10) Work on my technique. DRAPE! I never ever drape, since college. I am a lover of flat pattern drafting. I will be a huge failure on Project Runway if I don’t sharpen those draping skills. Whatever.
11) Be excited. And reeeeaaaalllly organized.
The Conclusion: 2010 is going to be a creative year. I am going to just do whatever, explore my options, fall back in love with fashion design. At the end of it, I aim to have a newly refined simple direction in which to focus my talents. Watch me!!
I love soup. It’s such a dynamic food. If I had to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be soup. I’m eating soup right now. Beet Borscht, yum. Soup is one of my go tos when I need a last minute dinner, because you really can make a delicious home made soup in less than 30 minutes. I’ve decided to share some of my favourite home made soup recipes, starting today with-
Chickpea Chowda (original recipe from cookbook Looneyspoons)
(I made this a lot in college. It’s cheap, hearty, somewhat comforting despite the fact there is next to no fat in it. It’s also vegan if you use vegetable stock. College=people experimenting with veganism.)
little bit of olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
3 or 4 sliced or diced carrots (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 or 4 cubed potatoes (about 3 cups, I leave my skins on)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp each sage and thyme
1/4 tsp each pepper and salt
parsley- 1/4 cup chopped fresh or teaspoon dry
Soften onion and celery in olive oil over medium heat. Add everything else except parsley (if using fresh). Bring to boil, reduce heat and cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are break apart tender.Remove bayleaf and MASH everything with a potato masher until coarsely pureed. Stir in parsley (if using fresh) and serve.
The movie that should be made based on Miriam Toews’ book The Flying Troutmans- well I just realized who should play Thebes, the 11 year old prodigous crafter.
Tavi, aka Style Rookie, the 13 year old fashion blog sensation. She should play Thebes. I realized after seeing a picture of her in the latest issue of FASHION that Tavi is who I’ve been imagining Thebes to look like as I’ve been reading (and rereading) the book. Pretty, quirky, dainty. Imagine purple hair and a blue terry cloth jumpsuit, faux holster. SHE’S PERFECT!!!!!!
I just finished reading Winnipeg writer Miriam Toews’ book The Flying Troutmans. Actually, I finished it, stood up in the middle of my bedroom and walked backwards in a figure eight 3 times (uh… rewind?) and now I am reading it again for the second time in a week.
It’s about an aunt and a mom and a son and a daughter, a van, and eventually, a father, all concerned with a common goal which is saving the mom from herself. The characters and story are depressingly sweet, sad, and funny. The book is short, with an ending that is satisfying. I felt it in my bones and it appealed to my heart, my achey breaky romantic heart.
Miriam Toews is such a great writer, on point with her cultural references, twisted banter, and compelling humans. The Flying Troutmans came out in 2008 so perhaps this is old news. But anyway, Iloved it. I remember being equally as spellbound by her book A Complicated Kindness (2004), which I think I need to reread.
Someone should mail a copy to Diablo Cody who should turn it into a screenplay, a la Diablo Cody. It would make a great movie, dare I say, film.
First of all, the name rocks- if I could change the name of my brand to anything, Easy Spirit is definitely in the top five.
I was randomly looking around the net and came across a pair of Easy Spirit shoes that looked pretty weird so I thought I would look at their website. From a fashion point of view, most Easy Spirit shoes are anything but. . . fashionable. But there is still something that I love about them. Occasionally all the awkward and terrible things about them line up to make something almost cool. I’ve said it before, I enjoy things that are a little ugly.
Check out these boots, style name “the future”. They have a velcro closure, awesome! These appeal to me because I am getting really annoyed with my lace up Sorels that are way too hard to get on and off. I think I’ll stalk the site to see if they go on sale at the end of the season. Next winter will have convenient footwear.
Easy Spirit also makes those weird ass shoes that look super comfortable, and slightly dangerous. Anti-Gravity they call it, sign me up! I can imagine them making me feel very springy, like I have elasticky, sinewy legs. I’ve always wanted to try these shoes. I love my Nike Airs, I imagine these are similar (but better because they’re Easy Spirit, not Nike)
And last but not least, from the ‘Classics’ section of their webstore- I love that they have a Classics section- the littlest prancey shoe that is after my heart. I’ve definitely seen this shoe before, on older ladies surely. The kind of ladies who call their pants ’slacks’. They have so many different colours that I feel I need to add this buffet of prancers, I can’t choose which is my fave. They’re having a deal now too, if you buy 3 pairs of shoes you get and extra %20 off, AND they are on sale for $49.99, which seems reasonable for a comfortable, leather, classic shoe.
Oh dear, stop me.
Hello Princess Prance-A-Lot. This is the kind of shoe that makes your foot look less like a foot and more like a cute little hoof. A few years ago at a party I would have stuck bottle caps into the soles of these and tapped around all night. That’s how special they are. Easy Spirit, I’ll say!!!
I don’t think anyone has noticed yet, but I am trying to start a word trend! Similar- but a million times better than the notables of the past few years- Paris Hilton’s annoying and vaccuous “That’s hot.” Lame. Christian Siriano’s combinations of “Fierce tranny hot messes”- not bad, not bad. And the most recent invention by the insane clown posse that is Tyra Banks- “Smize”. The short form for smiling with your eyes. Crazy.
So anyway, “what the fun!?” It came bubbling out of me about a month ago, right here on this blog. I wanted to use the other ‘what the eff’, but it just seemed tacky, now that I am a mother, especially when it was written right on the page. I’ve been strategically dropping the Fun bomb ever since. Since I can’t help myself from frequently using swears as adjectives, “What the fun!?” is kind of perfect. Friendly, child appropriate, portrays excitement. Everything I could want in a expletive replacement.
Examples for use-
What the fun!? (you open a Chrismas gift of a Toronto Maple Leafs miniature yet obtusely large replica zamboni)
What the fun is going on in here!? (you walk in on your cats sleeping)
What the fun is this!? (your Mom makes a delicious dinner)
Who the fun stole my cheeseburger!? (when you’re having lunch with Hamburgler)
How the fun am I supposed to know!? (someone asks you a question you’re too preoccupied to answer)
Where the fun is Maple, Ontario!? (your hubby tells you you’re moving to the suburbs)
As if I give a fun about Tiger Woods!? (you’ve lived on planet Earth for the past couple weeks)
It doesn’t really work for meanness or anger. “Fun you.” “Go fun yourself.” “Fun off.” Which is another reason why it’s great. I would never say those things anyway.
So, dear universe, this is my gift to you, Christmas 2009. Just putting it out there.
Try it, you’ll love it! Fingers crossed that it becomes passe and annoying. My life will be complete.
