Ten things

 that make me really happy

1.sitting around a campfire
2. long rambling chats with good friends
3. sleeping in past 6am
4.the sound of giggles
5. unexpected mail
6. any kind of mail that isn't a bill and has foreign stamps on it!
7. when someone I know gets one of my cards, and it wasn't from me
8. hugs (this one surprised me, but it's quite true!)
9. being completely consumed in creativity
10. the quiet of a snow falling & that crunchy sound of walking in really cold frozen snow 

and this picture!

what are the things that make you happy?

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Happy Friday the 13th!

Tomorrow is a big day. And Sunday too. It's finally here. The official kick-off of the craft show season. Well the second show season of the year.

The Danforth East Arts Fair is a great big arts party in the park (East Lynn Park that is). I LOVE this show, who can't enjoy spending 2 days outside in the park, meeting other incredible artists and getting to interact with so many fun loving paper lovers. And the East End is home to some amazingly supportive peeps. Last year was my first time as a vendor and I was blown away by how involved the shoppers were. People didn't just stroll past your booth. They came in, they asked questions, they were curious... and they laughed. Boy did they laugh. I can't wait for all the giggling over the new products this year. They make me feel happy that I took the leap to pursue my little stationery company.

If you're in Toronto hopefully you'll make the trek to visit, and make sure to stop by and see all the new products and maybe, just maybe, I'll have some of those famous PB+Chocolate cookies with me ;)

And not to forget my Blog Challenge duties.... I leave you with this awesome portrait I got done a few years ago by an amazing artist in Calgary (todays challenge was a self-portrait, this counts - right?) AND it's Friday the 13th so extra bonus points!

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life's big moments

Blog September Challenge for today: Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

This one is so easy. 

boxes everywhere! all boxes were numbered, with a list of everything packed in each box:) I'm so efficient

In March of 2011 I packed up my life in Vancouver and moved my ass back to Toronto (yeah 16 years earlier I took the train across the country and settled in Vancouver ). I left a job that was pretty much my dream job (due to the fact that no one reads newspaper or magazines anymore - not just because I felt like it), a great group of friends (who will always be my friends), and those mountains. Oh.... those mountains. I won't sugar coat it. It was hard. Really hard. It still is hard. There still isn't a week that goes by that I don't miss Vancouver. Not to knock Toronto, but I'm an outdoorsy lady. I live for forest adventures. But the opportunity came up to make a change, something I knew I needed to do. And I may not have a dream job anymore, but I'm creating my own new dream job in thunderpeep. And it's all mine. It's evolved so much in the past 2 years, so much more than I could have anticipated. And I've met some amazing new friends that have helped me grow as a person and find my Toronto self. I don't have regrets... but I know I'll make it back to the beautiful West Coast eventually. Just not tomorrow.

the last days in my sunny Vancouver apartment. I had a view of those mountains. I miss that apartment...

Have you made any big changes or big moves in your life?

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I'm a what? and I listen to what?

For today's blog challenge I was instructed to take the Jung personality test and share the results.

I'm a big fan of these kinds of things. I always read my yearly horoscope from Georgia Nicholls and then put it away to read on New Years Eve to see if it all came true - so far none of the foreign romance that she keeps promising :( Come on Georgia!

Bu this test, was pretty spot on. Scary. Not sure how answering what seems like random questions can say anything about me, or am I just reading into it? Either way, here's what random questions say about me.

(FYI this is the test I took - if you decide to take the 10 minutes to fill it in, feel free to share your results)

Hello, I'm a INTJ.
I'm an idea person, anything is possible (even trolls)
I'm a doer
I'm not very good at social situations (you said what?)
I'm extremely private (even though I am learning to share some things with you now)
I rarely share my deep dark feelings. It's way more fun to share the crazy stuff!
I sweat the details (oh nothing drives me more nuts than a vague message - please don't send me one) some may say I over-think. I prefer the positive spin on it ;)
The point that made me laugh out loud was that INTJ's hate small talk. That is totally me!

There are many more points, and this post could go one forever, but even I started to get bored reading it (guess this is the one time I can bypass the details ;) If you would like to know more you can read it all here.

Oh yeah, and since it's Monday, I can't forget the fun musical contribution. And this one is golden. At first I was confused, then it was just pure awesome. My friends this is the Paul Anka doing {the} Nirvana (you see now why confusion is your first response... but just watch and enjoy)

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I ain't afraid of no ghosts...

I don't even really believe in them. But that's a whole other story. Today's challenge is to tell you about a time I was afraid. 

Now, I watch a lot of scary movies. It's not uncommon for me to be freaked out. But a couple of months ago I had one of the most terrifying nightmares ever. The kind where you wake up in a pool of sweat and just can't shake the horror off of you to get back to sleep. Some of you are going to laugh about it, some of you are going to get it. 

This is how I feel about having babies....

Friendship Rule #11: when your friend can no longer drink, you must drink her portions!

No seriously, I have no ticking clock, no maternal instincts... no urge to add to the world's population. That's for everyone else to take care of. 

I this horrifying nightmare I was extremely pregnant. Not the glowing with life kind, the waddling, bloated and uncomfortable kind. And woman all around me were going into painful labour. It was horrifying. Seriously. Freaky. Shit. I woke up and still had that feeling that I was carrying around a 20lb baby in my belly. Honestly, this was before the Celiac diagnosis so I probably just ate too much gluten laden food and was bloated. I will never forget that feeling though. Even that morning at Le Day Job my coworker and I were laughing about it. I could still feel that horrible belly and the fear of hearing these women popping out human beings.

I'm sure the miracle of life isn't so nightmarish, but I will still leave it for those of you who are up for the challenge. I clearly am not - and seriously I'm ok with that ;)

Happy Friday - and what do you think of the new card? was a bit hit before it even hit the shop :)

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free advice

Today's September blog challenge was to pass on a great piece of advice or super useful tidbit of information you've learned and always remembered.

So, here it is.

Happy Thursday little peeps... tomorrow is FRIDAY :)

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imagine 3 months off

I wish I was writing to tell you that I was taking off to do whatever my heart desired for 3 months. But I'm only pretending. It's todays Blog Challenge. 

If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do?

This one is so easy. Because I've been planning it for years. Well taking 6 months or even a year off to go live over in Finland/Norway/Iceland and absorb myself into the Nordic/Scandinavian culture and design. Take some classes at the Design schools, browse the outdoor markets (or indoor if it's wonderful winter) learn how to make my own butter. And Trolls. I want to go on my own Troll Hunting adventure in the woods of Norway. Come on.... who WOULDN'T want to do that?

just a wee corner of heaven in Norway (photo by Fabrizio Fenoglio on 500px)

I'm sort of taking this trip for my 40th birthday (still haven't determined how long the trip will actually be) so who knows... maybe it will be sooner than I think!

the beautiful countryside of Iceland

Where would YOU go with 3 months off?

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