We like to leave Luna on the floor so she can feel free to do whatever she wants. She can roll, babble, chew on her toys or just put her arms behind her head and relax. Life is so good in her world.
Another note: Hello to GrassrootsModern. Thank you for including our Weekend DIY Project in your blog.
We made a painting this weekend! We’ve been wanting a large scale art-piece to go up on our dining room wall. We had a large framed photograph up but, at 26″ x 32″, it didn’t have the right scale for the room. We wanted to go big. Like, 60″ x 36″ big. Now the last time either of us did any painting was in art school. Back then we didn’t enjoy it much, mostly because neither of us were particularly good at it. Undeterred, we gave it a try. Things tend to be more enjoyable when you do them for yourself and it turned out to be a lot of fun.
Inspired by color field paintings, I made a sketch in Illustrator and we tried different color combinations til we were happy. Then it was off to the local art store to buy the acrylic paint, the canvas and some 1/4″ painters tape. A few hours later, we were done and it was up on the wall. We’re enjoying it. It’s the bold, large-scale signature piece the room has been waiting for. We call the piece………“Untitled.”
Update: To complete the dining area, we painted a high chair red to add another splash of color to the room. View the post “Red High Chair” for the full room view. And, check out the DIY/Make section for more project ideas.
Our little Luna is now 5 months old and growing! She is now very curious to see and hear everything that surrounds her. Even when she’s all tucked inside her ergo baby carrier as we go for our walks, I see her head popping in and out wanting to see all the lights, colours, movement and noise around us. There’s so much for her to see and she’s taking it all in. Anyone who talks to Luna is treated with the biggest smiles and baby giggles. Luna also loves sitting in her bumbo chair and feels proud to be sitting up by herself like a big girl. When she’s by herself and wants some company, she has learned to call out to us with her super loud high pitch baby sound that can be heard all the way in the back of the house. Luna has also been treating us with what we call her ‘happy dance’. When she’s really, really happy, we find her lying on her back wiggling her shoulders and legs while bobbing head from side to side with a grin on her face. This always makes Peter and I laugh. As of today, Luna has also started her solids. I fed her with her first organic whole grain rice cereal and she happily ate almost a whole tablespoon with no complaints at all. That’s our girl!
I’ve been thinking about waffles these past few days so instead of just thinking about it, I decided to bring out the waffle maker and make something a little different – coconut waffles! It is so good eaten on it’s own or you can spoil yourself by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top with some warm chocolate drizzled on it. Coconut and chocolate make an excellent combination. Indulgence!
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup toasted sweetened coconut flakes
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
One 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbs unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1. Preheat a waffle iron
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, coconut flakes, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, eggs, and vanilla until completely blended.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the coconut milk/egg mixture, blending gently only until the ingredients are combined. Add the butter in a slow stream, continuing to blend until the butter is incorporated.
4. Pour a generous 1/2 cup batter into the waffle iron.
5. Serve the waffles with the topping of your choice.
Note: To toast sweetened coconut flakes: Arrange an oven rack at centre position and preheat the oven at 350F. Spread the coconut flakes on a baking sheet, and bake until the flakes just start to brown, 4-5 minutes (or less).
Recipe taken from the book ‘Waffles’ by Betty Rosbottom. ISBN 0-8118-4842-6
On a rainy Thursday morning, I had a craving for something sweet to eat for breakfast as I look outside watching the rain fall from the sky. I was secretly happy it was raining which meant stroller fitness (an exercise program I have joined which happens every Thursday morning) would be canceled. As much as I want to keep fit and loose my pregnancy weight, I really just wanted to sit in my cozy kitchen and enjoy my apple strudel and my ultra favourite Milano coffee. As I happily eat away those strudels and lick my fingers to make sure nothing goes to waist, I was thinking to myself this is definitely much better then running outside and doing jumping jacks. Exercise can wait until next Thursday.
Bruce Lee’s “Fighting Methods” series and Charley Harper’s 123′s and ABC’s books are displayed side-by-side in our studio. The colors and design of the books play off each other perfectly despite the disparate subject matter. It’s an example of our all-ages, unisex, ass-kicking decorating modus operandi.
I found the Bruce Lee books, years ago, in the street-side dollar-bin of a used book store on Granville Street. It was quite the score since these are rare and sought after amongst collectors. Although, I have to admit I only bought them because the minimalist covers are cool. The other quirk about this set is that it’s the Yugoslavian printing. Presumably, “Metoda Borbe” translates to “Fighting Methods”.
The Charley Harper kids books were bought a couple years back when Old Navy stocked a small collection of Harper merchandise. At $10 each they’re a steal compared to the Charley Harper retrospective “An Illustrated Life.” We bought them before we were even planning on having Luna. They’re nice to have and beautiful to look at, even if you don’t have kids.
Yep, ABCs, 123s and…martial arts. All good.
Waiting eagerly for summer to come. The image above is what our backyard looked like last summer. Lush, inviting, green and so summery. This is what country living is like. No traffic noise, no neighbours looking down at us, no shopping carts in the alley (no alleys, at all, actually). In the summer, we spend almost all of our meals outside and sit there for hours until the sun goes down. Our backyard has been neglected since summer ended last year. Soon, if the weather holds up, we’ll be out there again watching our herbs, vegetables and fruits grow and just enjoying the hot summer days…
Dinner and Movie night yesterday was French-themed. We watched Flight of the Red Balloon accompanied by a French-inspired tasting platter. On the platter was: a baguette from Terra Breads, hot calabrese, local goat cheese, manchego, sweet pearl onions, olives and cornichons. The highlights of the platter were two spreads that we bought at a Farmer’s Market in Saint Rémy de Provence. We were saving them for a special occasion. A night at home can be as special as any occasion, so we opened them up. Why not? The dark spread is Crème d’Alhambra, which is similar to a tapenade but slightly creamier and less salty. The ingredients are olives, olive oil, anchovies and, unlike tapenades we’ve had, sheep cheese. The mustard colour spread is Carmin d’Artichauts with is 60% artichoke hearts, olive oil, dried tomatoes, pine nuts and garlic. Imagine those ingredients together. It tastes exactly like that. Nothing more, nothing less. Simple and delicious.
And how was the movie? As the backdrop to our meal, it was perfect. The film is filled with vignettes of Parisian life with lovely locations, styling, cinematography and beautiful people. The story is rather meandering and abstract, though. You won’t laugh, you won’t cry, you may not even know the movie ended but, served with dinner, you will enjoy your meal. Bon appétite.
Luna spends a bit of each day playing on the floor. She really enjoys herself, now that she’s able to grab onto her toys and rattles. Amongst her favourites are these stuffed cubes that my sister made for her. The cubes are super soft, squishy and light as a feather. Luna likes to grab them and jostle them around. She also likes anything that shakes, rattles or squeaks.
A few times a day, we’ll turn Luna over on to her belly. She’s been trying really hard to roll over. She’s now able to hold her head up high and kick her feet around. For the first few minutes, she’s so happy and proud of herself for trying new things. She tries every maneuver her young mind can think of but she just isn’t able to find the right combination of body mechanics to rollover. After about five minutes, Luna starts to get frustrated and we turn her over. We clap our hands, tell her she did a great job and she’s all smiles again. One day soon, she’ll figure it all out and she’s going to be really proud of herself. And, of course, we will be too.
Every time Sisi and I spend time together, we can talk for endless hours about everything we can possibly think of. I find that as we get older, it gets harder and harder to find time to sit with friends in the middle of the afternoon and forget about all the things that needs to be done that day. So days like today, where Sisi and I find a corner at a café/restaurant and completely forget about time, are always special. Our moment together is all that matters and we are oblivious of what’s around us. Love you Sisi! x
The soundtrack to this weekend was “My World” by Tim Kay. The song is probably best known as the theme song to Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie At Home” series and we’ve had it on loop for the last couple days. On Saturday, I caught Nerissa watching an episode of Jamie’s Australian Tour Diary where Tim Kay performs a live acoustic version of the song. Nerissa kept rewinding to hear the song again. I thought I’d save her the trouble and buy the track on iTunes. Some songs you just connect with and 99¢ for a song that captures the spirit of the moment is totally worth it. P.S. The photo above was taken in Provence. In my world, the backyard doesn’t quite look like that yet but one lovely day it may.
Spring is here and the flowers are starting to bloom. However, none of our flowers right now are big enough for a regular size vase. So, I created a mini-centerpiece using a spare spice jar as a vessel. The flowers are crocuses which were the first to sprout up in the backyard. Our rosemary bush stays vibrant all year long and I added a sprig for color & contrast. The cut crocuses opened wide shortly after hitting the water but the delicate, paper-thin petals are starting to expire after only a few days. No worries. We have lots and they’re all free for the picking.
I wanted to put together a special package for Valentine’s for Nerissa. While searching through our hard drive, I found a photograph of scooters and macarons Nerissa shot in Paris. It’s a beautiful image and it was a shame it only existed in our digital archives. I came up with the idea of printing and framing the photograph and packaging it with a set of macarons. Unfortunately, sourcing macaroons in Vancouver was more difficult than I anticipated. There was none to be found near home or near work. With a little one in the house it’s hard to sneak out on long secret missions and I wasn’t able to put all the pieces together for the 14th. Luckily, the next special occassion, Nerissa’s birthday, is soon after Valentine’s. Perfect timing since I figured I would need one or two more weeks to get everything together.
I sent a message out on Twitter asking where in Vancouver I could find macarons. I was told La Baguette et L’Echalote on Granville Island or Thomas Haas. I chose Thomas Haas. I then packaged the macarons in a Ladurée souvenir box we bought in Paris; fitting since Ladurée started Nerissa’s macaron obsession. The framed photo and box of macarons were stacked together, tied with a ribbon and, viola, there it is. Bon Anniversaire!
