last minute nellies - don't worry.

ahhhhh it's the day before valentines what are you going to DO?!?!
don't worry. i gotchu.
make a heart elbow pad sweater - that's what!
but seriously. here are some awesome valentine's DIYs. no shame in giving THOSE as gifts (and absolutely no shame in doing them yourself the day before).
do you mean serious business with your vday gifts? homemade suckers. fo suckas. (sorry).

stiched felt valentines heart pins. huzzah!

heart elbow patches (see? i wasn't joking about that).

tights! with hearts on them!

this wall is made of CHOCOLATE! guys. that is important for everyone. 

and then elsie and emma of a beautiful mess helped immensely  by rounding up their top 20 DIY ideas on their own blog. perfection!

my challenge? make yourself a chocolate wall tonight. THEN. when you wake up, you will have a chocolate wall gift - TO YOURSELF. 
genius.

love notes - for the hated

i love lauren nicole hom's work. all of it. so you can imagine how much i adore her series (that was actually a class project) 'broken hearts'. hey! sometimes love sucks! and sometimes it's a great thing when you break up with someone, but then that person keeps your favourite book and you never get it back, and you have to pay all the money for a new hardcover version - and that sucks worse than the breakup itself!
so hey. here are greeting cards for when these things happen. (finally).
(please excuse the expletives. emotions are raw, people!)
oh breakups. nothing better.

my (snowy) weekend in summary

this weekend was set aside for going through and purging every box, bin, nook and cranny at my parent's house - things left aside from years of collecting and moving. and while in town, made time for lazy breakfasts with my mom, a 'birthday party' for my niece, and a high school type catch up hangout with my other jamie.
snowy walk home friday evening; a weekend's luggage; the best socks every created trying to warm up on the GO train; sunny floor conversations with tea on a saturday morning; blowing out birthday candles (and she even got exra); the cutest little 2 year old; a train set from auntie jamie (i love buying my nieces and nephews presents. i'm not sure there is much i love more); the outcome of 2 days of hard work; denim and rubber boots - i'm classy like that. 
friday: after a long and very snowy walk home from work, i wasted some time at my apartment cleaning up, and doing laundry after my return from vacation. watched some new girl (caught up - i was quite behind), and cleaned, organized and sorted a bit. then, after packing up some things, i caught a cab to take the GO train home. jeff picked me up in his handy dandy 4x4 vehicle (perfect for canadian winter), and we spent the rest of the evening with my parents - watching some three stooges (old style), having some drinks, and sitting by the fire. we're so canadian. 
saturday: woke up a bit earlier than expected, so spent the morning talking RRSPs with my dad (aka. my financial advisor) and eating toasted tomato sandwiches and drinking tea. perfection. then, got down to business (not before a quick lunch from montfort), and my co-jamie sat and read me excerpts from our high school yearbooks while i purged and sorted through boxes in my old bedroom. awesome. nothing more reassuring than looking in the mirror after a weekend of photos of old you. then, jamie took off, and jeff and i headed out to my niece's birthday party. fun ensued. neon cake. train sets. pizza and pop. more birthdays should be like this. i finally got to also visit with lisa and mike, and their monkeys, who i haven't seen FOREVER. it was so so nice to spend saturday that way. jeff and i then headed back to jeff's (after party central), and ended up at my parents watching twin peaks and drinking tea. super exhilarating saturday night. 
sunday: woke up early, and after a big breakfast with my mom and jeff, we got down to business. sorting, cleaning, purging, and loading jeff's truck with donations from the pit. we took a huge walk in the sun, and got some lunch, before briskly walking home (apparently it gets VERY cold after 4pm these days). finished up some last stuff, and then sat down for a big dinner with the fam. there is nothing like a sunday dinner with the shea's (poor jeff). then, headed out on a work clothes buying adventure, and watched some more twin peaks before bed. 
it was a good weekend - exhausting, but totally fulfilling and satisfying. 
and. because it's hilarious. and because on friday, this was more true than anything i ever read (considering my parents said they had to shovel the driveway 6 times). 

OH. and. it's valentines week. and, because it's my most favourite day of the year, y'all have to deal with the repercussions. sorry about that (sorry not sorry). 
happy monday!

welcome back, welcome back, welcome back

i'm back. from a marvellous vacation in cuba, with sun and the ocean. and sleep - lots of glorious sleep.

a week with drinks, sun, wind, waves, the ocean, spanish type architecture, and this dude. hard to come home to reality, that's for sure. we arrived back, wishing we were still there, but ravenous for some salad. and tap water (we're easy to please).

and then.... this. at least it's beautiful and untouched.

so welcome home to me... perhaps i will fill next week with stories of my sunny vacay, to ease the pain of the cold for all of us a bit. and, if nothing else, photos of sunny places with turquoise coloured water.
happy friday everyone!