of all the baggage we carry

so. based on the trips i've booked recently, and the flights on which i have no interest in checking luggage, i have determined that i am in dire need of a weekend bag... currently i'm in possession on a fabulous MEC bag, but it's a bit floppy, and doesn't serve me well as a carry on. as such, i've been drooling over which bag to get... with a few requirements: sturdy; (potentially) on wheels - due to my back; not too heavy; beautiful; carry on sized; able to fit massive amounts of things that i bring on 4 day trips to NYC (ok... that's flexible, but ideally. you know).
so. i have found my top faves.
(clockwise from top left): the ravine, from herschel supply; jcrew's rail and wharf; the weekender, from aspinal of london; barbour canvas bag; the wood & faulk carpenter's bag; the leather holdall, from pickett (and the canvas is amazing as well)
does anyone have any favourite weekend bags? anything they love, hate, don't care either way about? i'm on the hunt.

a place to call home

i. love. this. blog.
all you need, is to take a peep at her header... and you fall truly madly deeply. sf girl by bay is a lovely blog run by victoria smith... who manages, daily (with her compadres), to come up with the best of the best in design, interiors, and other goodies that i am constantly drooling over. clean. neutral. fresh. organized. a little bit vintage, and a little bit rock and roll.
amaaaaaazing jewelry collection. photos. dreamy.
i adore the idea of compilation blogs - people opening up to people like them, and sharing their insights. we all stumble onto the most amazing things on a daily basis, and why not share a space to demonstrate these things? victoria manages this wonderfully. her contributors are all amazing. all of them. and the posts are always straightforward, and simple. which i love (i hate having to exert effort in my blog reading).
so, at the beginning of it all, i don't remember how i came upon victoria's blog, but one of the first entries i read was on her home. and in sharing photos of her living space, i knew we were meant to be (as in, i was meant to be a reader, and she was meant to continue doing what she does). her home is a perfect articulation of her style, and her blog. and i just adore it. and of course - as usual - it inspires me in my own home.
big image heavy post coming up... just so you know.
so instead of speaking to all of the blog posts i love of hers, i'll just leave you with some photos of victoria's home. it's stunning. i love it. please explore.
i encourage you to check out the blog - it's wonderful. and in case you needed more.... this was the most recent post i read - beginning with a note on treeforts:
(i NEED to live in a treefort).
more of her home (and photos above from)      here   //   and here

when you feel nothing but lost.

just a few things that are getting me through the days recently... providing me with strength, and a little bit of happiness. 
image from thumbpress.com/
image from thumbpress.com/
image from thumbpress.com/
"for what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. there's no time limit, stop whenever you want. you can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. we can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again"

my weekend in summary

this weekend was packed, productive, and refreshing... with lots of outdoor time, and lots and lots of friend time. wonderful. my friend said to me yesterday, 'i had a jamie kind of weekend' and i realized she was referring to the amount she packed into it. hey - that's a great thing, i think. if i only get 2 days off a week, i want to take FULL advantage of those days.
cooking up a storm with made from scratch spaghetti sauce and marinated tofu (food for freezing); lineup for beer at the jays game (priorities, people); jays game with the gang; multiple games of war with joshy in the hotel, while waiting for our partners in crime; couldn’t get them standing still; perfect day for a walk in Toronto; myself, and steph and I in the sun; game of thrones and painted nails in bed. 
Friday: worked a bit later than hoped, and then headed home (after a crazy busy day at work from beyond), and met a friend at my place. had some drinks while devising a plan, and then took off for an exploratory walk of the neighbourhood. the original plan was the johnny cash tribute at the gladstone, but when we arrived, there we no seats left, and we were starving. so, we heard bits and pieces, and then left to wander up ossington. ended up at the lakeview, and ate and drank ourselves almost to sleep. finished the evening with 'where the wild things are' in bed, and had to flip it off half way through, with heavy eyes.
Saturday: woke up fairly early and accomplished tons. cleaned, organized, purged, vacuumed my entire apt, laundry and tons of other jobs that I had been trying to get done forever. while cleaning, made a batch of this spaghetti sauce (vegan butter, of course - and i also used a hand blender and left the onions in), and some homemade marinated tofu to freeze, to hopefully attain the same level of yummyness that these have been providing me lately. headed out for downtown about 3pm to meet my friend josh and his brother and high school friends for the jays game. walked over to the dome from their hotel, and watched the jays crush the mariners 7-0 to make up for their loss on the friday (thank goodness I left my mariners hat at home). then, josh and I hung out at the hotel while the rest of the guys went to the red hot chili peppers concert. we played a few rousing games of 'war' while watching music videos on much music. once the guys arrived home, we jumped in cabs for the madison (to my dismay), and upon seeing the line, decided on one of my personal favourites - the pump. spent the evening there, watching the guys flirt with the waitress, and experiencing one of the best/worst couple fights ever. cabbed home after saying bye to josh and another friend, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Sunday: woke up and spent a few hours in bed - eating breakfast, watching game of thrones, and rewarding myself for my productive day before that... and, being in a ton of back pain for no good reason, I figured I better take it easy for a bit. once I pulled myself out of my comfortable bed, I ventured out for the errands I had to do - returning clothes, grocery shopping, getting quotes on cleaning up my computers to finally sell them. got home and things put away with just enough time to meet steph for a day long walk. we wandered everywhere with only 1 goal in mind - slurpees. we ended up walking back to her place, and her roommate ordered thai food for everyone. ate and chatted, and ate thai food until we couldn't move. steph then drove me home at about 8, and I spent the rest of the evening in bed, painting nails, watching game of thrones. after and exhausting (busy and amazingly full/productive) weekend, I was in bed, asleep before 11.
hope everyone had an amazing and wonderful weekend themselves - and took advantage of the amazing weather we had on sunday! and.... happy monday!