January 31, 2017

Shannon
It was great to spend time with both of you on Mom's birthday. I'm so glad we do Art and Netflix together. Although it was more like popcorn and Netflix for me! I did get some colouring in, but I was too drawn to the film to draw my eyes away too much.

Suzie

Before we got together for the movie, which I loved and am still absorbing, I took my lemon poppy seed muffins outside on the deck to take some photographs. That's about all I accomplished today.

January 30, 2017

Jamie

Well, we are officially starting to think about a reno. We're beginning with thinking about the floors since they will be such a strong and compelling statement in the house. We are trying to balance the age and character of the house, my taste, Justin's taste and what is relatively easy to work with. Quite a challenge! Over two days, we came home with all of these samples to give us a good idea of what might work. We're already thinking we should give ourselves more time for decision-making! 

Shannon
I'm still chipping away at getting my place looking and feeling like everything is in it's place, and one step I took towards that this weekend was to add some art supplies (that I use!) to their new home my bookshelf (the lower shelf is the new stuff). I like having them here, much more handy that piled on the floor! Here's hoping I have room to put away whatever I choose next!

Suzie

Didn't have a lot of energy today because of my cold but somehow found a way to make lemon poppy seed muffins. A friend sent me the recipe and I liked the old school way of making them using egg whites to help them be light and fluffy. Despite it being a dark, damp day I was able to whip the egg whites.

January 29, 2017

Jamie

We were very excited to discover that what had once been Zellers and then Target is now a Lowes. It's an easier walk than the Home Depot we've been going to and with talks of a reno starting to get real, it is particularly awesome!

Suzie

I put up a new foodie video. I just had to see if Jamie Oliver was right. Could you just throw a butternut squash into the oven and have it be cooked in an hour? Oh and I also went out to a cafe with Reg which was nice. I had to get out of the house.

January 28, 2017

Jamie

It is very exciting that our art store has finally reopened. Even though it is farther away (*sigh*), it is still a treat to have it in the neighbourhood. Shannon and I went on a great adventure of discover and bought ourselves a few treats when we were there!

Shannon
Journal Club has started! It was so great to spend the afternoon with an awesome bunch of journalers. I won't say more because I know Suzie you are going to join us and don't want to say anything until you get a chance to play along!

Suzie

One of the worst nights of sleep ever because I suddenly came down with a wicked head cold. Made myself some butternut squash soup and tried to get some rest but Final Cut Pro threatened to drive me crazy. Not the rest day I probably should have had.

January 27, 2017

Jamie

Yesterday was quite a busy day as I prepped for Journal Club starting today. Dinnertime is always a nice break, even with these two peering at me with the "When is our dinner?" look!

Shannon
Another pre-vlogging pic, this one is post bookshelf-shuffle though so I have new books behind me. Moving the books around was a whole day ordeal, but in the end I think I only pulled 10-15 new ones to the shelves! Well, to these shelves, I also organized a bunch of other shelves too. Was totally worth it, I fele like I have a wonderful set of books to choose from. I wonder if I *will* read them all this year (or ever). I guess I will see how things go!

On the other side of the street there is another sign that says "Yours"

Suzie

I finally got out for a REAL walk! And there was no ice anywhere. Just sandy sidewalks. Thrilling. Went out to Killarney Market for some food which we are getting desperate for and the sun was even shining. Truly starting to feel like spring here in Vancouver but knock on wood... Don't want to jinx it.

January 26, 2017

Shannon
Red shirt convention! Red Alert! I have been really enjoying revisiting Star Trek: The Original Series which is my current physio show. It's so perfect, because I've seen them all so don't have to pay a lot of attention but I always have something to enjoy. I've been suprized that there are several where I only vaguely remember, and even then I may remember a line "One, more time!!" or the alien, planet, special effect that's unique to the episode, but I don't remember the story. It's been really fun to revisit them.

Suzie

And back to Coquitlam we go! Got my new night guard and we get a little bit of a reprieve before having to go back again. Really sick and tired of my free time being spent at appointments.

January 25, 2017

Shannon
Morning art in the morning, and so far I'm continuing to enjoy this process. It will take a bit longer to see if I start getting a little gr-rr without doing my Morning Pages but so far... so good!

Suzie

I packed everything up and took it to the post office today and realized I forgot to do the giveaway draw! Well you two know who won, LOL. Turns out both official winners had packages that went to the post office. Doh! Oh well. I'll package them up on their own. So glad to have this big bag of jewelry off to all the wonderful people who supported my fire sale. Now I have a clean slate for making stuff and it feels awesome.

January 24, 2017

Shannon
For some reason my pic won't insert into the post (I'll add it later if I can), but as it turns out it's one I show both of you during start: my drawing of my coffee table. I am so glad you both like seeing these drawings because I seem to keep doing them all the time! It's like a little time capsule. Other than that, didn't take many pics, was quite a busy day with recording an all!

Suzie

Big part of the day was stART of course! As well as trying to get organized to send stuff out from my sale but I got my Adobe Light Room today (no time to upload it yet) and this lovely birthday card from Dad and July. Those are real beads on the cake! So glad we got to celebrate my birthday together today.

January 23, 2017

Jamie

I know the big news yesterday was Suzie's birthday!! Yay! We were thinking of you, Suzie, as we had our Art Day. I loved starting my day with a few special purchases from your Etsy store. I hope you had a rocking day! We had a lot of fun painting.

Shannon
It was so much fun to have Art Day at Jamie, as great to have a visit with the kitties! If you look close, you can see 2 in this picture :)

Suzie

Had an EPIC day out for my birthday including a trip to the Bulk Barn, such a dangerous place for this foodie to go. It really was one of the best birthdays I have had in a long time.

January 22, 2017

Jamie

I just had to take this opportunity to celebrate Suzie! Then and now, I'm holding you close to my heart. Happy birthday, Suzie!

January 21, 2017

Jamie

After a busy and very productive day, including this season's Studio Forum, it was great to hangout with Shannon. We even managed to do a little bit of art. Today's 365 assignment was drawing someone else with our non-dominant hand so we drew each other. Fun!

Suzie

It was so awesome to get to the art studio today! A great turnout of people, lots of laughter and I'm working on my first "wobbly" plate. I love that turn. Basically it is an imperfect plate. You would be surprised at how hard they are to make. Playing with clay can be tricky.

January 20, 2017

Jamie

Yesterday I really dedicated myself to writing, by which I mean, I did laundry, planned and prepped dinner and generally walked around not writing - lol! Eventually I did settle down and actually wrote the seeds of something important for my "big book" and did a lot of work on next year's project. And I even did it with a Bodum full of herbal tea - not coffee after coffee after coffee :)

Shannon
Got out to do some errands today and stopped into Value Village and and they've changed their prices. At first glance I thought they increased them generally, but I think they just added on more price for books in the highest bracket. All that said, I picked up a few that I am excited about and none were that price. Amazing how that happens!

Suzie

Well I ended up staying with the same people for my site, unbelievably stressful. I worked on my Etsy site a lot and then Totoro surprised me by sitting in my spot with my Hello Kitty blanket! It was good to have a laugh because things have been so challenging. Totoro can always make me smile.

January 19, 2017

Jamie

Yesterday was a long trek out to Fairview Mall to see a specialist whose office is nearby. It was wild to be in the busy rush hour and I was thankful to be going the opposite direction, for the most part. This moment really made me laugh. All I could think was #danceoff! I took a moment to stop into Fairview. It's the weirdest thing. It's both entirely different and exactly the same. It's a mall. I didn't feel confident in my experience with the specialist and am going to ask to see someone else before proceeding with any more tests. 

Shannon
I never know what I am going to see when my screen saver stops and I wake up my computer, but this is what I saw today. And I loved it. So now I'm going to add it to my pictures FOR screensavers which will be funny to see it pop up. But seriously, isn't it the cutest?

Suzie

Such a stressful day. Waking up and my site not working, having tech issues all day... At least I got some photographs done of my jewellery and got out to see The Founder which is the story about McDonald's.

January 18, 2017

Jamie

I did get out and about yesterday in a rainy and blustery day - not the kind of weather that inspires whipping out your camera. So here's a cozy pic of Scout, (semi)patiently waiting for dinner. Yesterday with all my activities, from the gym to going out to lunch, I managed to get >12,000 steps in! 

Shannon
I was happy to get some vlogging in , and I think it's funny that one rainy days the light where I vlog is actually pretty crazy amazing (if I do say so myself!).

Suzie

Another drive out to Coquitlam and the dentist. This is going to be going on for a while. Quite the rainy and foggy day but I will take it over snow. That is Ridge Park ahead on the right and Eagle Mountain up on top to the left. I used to live right between the two. I really miss it sometimes. So beautiful.

January 17, 2017

Jamie

It's been great to be back in the studio and I am just loving wrapping up my Mondays with you two! I loved hanging out with you guys and watching How to Make an American Quilt. I wonder what we will watch next!

Shannon
OH my picture of hanging out today didn't quite turn out, but at least you can see we were all together and how bright it was at my place! I had a lot of fun hanging out together and doing some art. I forgot to share! I guess now I'll for sure have something for stART next week!

Suzie

I did not actually take this photograph of my "Stupid Easy Potato Leek Soup" today but I did make the graphic for it. What a day. I am so stuck on what to do about hosting my site that I spent all afternoon researching and finding out about companies that I did not have time to do finances and Mondays are my money day. Ugh. But hanging out with you too was great and I got some more stuff ready for the sale.

January 16, 2017

Jamie

Well, Justin and I are really starting to think about whether we'd like to buy a new house or renovate the one that we're in. Yesterday we went to a few open houses in our neighbourhood. This house was beautifully staged, though the overtness of the choices had to make me giggle a bit. Even in the laundry room there was a beautiful vintage tin for laundry soap - to small to be practical but certainly created an impression. When Justin mentioned how nicely the place was put together, the real estate agent said, "Yes, well, they are very stylish people." LOL.

Shannon
After exploring lots of different games last year, I was able to determine which kinds of games I like only to discover some of them might be a tad too hard for me to play yet. Deciding not to let that get in my way I've actually mapped out a plan to work my way up to them and have now embarked on my 2017 Gaming Challenge which is My Quest to Become A Better Gamer. I have not started my first game in this question, which is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It's similar to Tomb Raider and so far it's been a lot of good fun. I've fallen off lots of ledges, gotten into a few scraps, but also figured out a some puzzles on my own. So far, so good!

Suzie

I don't know how I suddenly got so busy. I guess that is what happens when you take on a project with a deadline. I want to get everything ready and up online on my birthday so I have one more week! And a week FULL of appointments and things to do. Sigh... Somehow it will get done.

January 15, 2017

Jamie

My journey through my stuff continues. I am feeling very motivated to make some room for my life and what it is becoming now by letting go of some older stuff. I won't let go of this though - a picture I drew of me when I was 5. I've written Robbie's name up at the top there too. Treasure!

Shannon
It feels like it's been a while since I watched a new TV series so I took a chance on this Icelandic mystery drama that's set in a sleepy town that has some pretty gruesome discoveries. I really enjoyed it although the first episode was rather dark (and oddly the second episode didn't have subtitles when I watched on my PS4 but they worked on my phone... what a mystery itself). Anyhow, it was fun to try something new and I burned through the last several episodes while recovering from bit outing on Friday.

Suzie

I had one hell of a headache Saturday morning and didn't think I would get up to too much but thanks to pain killers, Reg and I got out to Trout Lake. It is the first winter in 20 years that this lake has frozen over and tons of people came out to play hockey, try to skate, walk on ice or perform with a mini hula hoop. There were tons of dogs, so many kids and lots of people really being a part of the experience together. I am so glad we went and we ever went out for hot chocolate afterwards. What started as a crappy day turned around to be quite awesome.

January 14, 2016

Jamie

Wow, the moon was brilliant last night. It was a lovely light at the end of a grand day. Shannon and I went on an adventure to the Mystical Landscapes at the art gallery. I have to say that I am loving being able to go to a show multiple times and to bring people with me. It is awesome to experience a show with different people's perspectives being shared. We really saw some wonderful art. I think I will always carry that moment of seeing Monet's grain stacks in my heart!

Shannon
It was absolutely wonderful to go to the AGO with Jamie and see the Mystical Landscapes exhibit. I haven't been for so many years, I literally can't remember the last time I went. I had a wonderful time, and a great guide :) And then.... lots of rest. That was a big excursion!

Suzie

Reg and I got a lot of errands done on Friday and went to his friend Grace's art show which was all about monsters. It was quite fascinating. I saw more creatures than monsters but I guess it's how you interpret the word.

January 13, 2017

Jamie

We had a big moment with Escher yesterday. He was curled up on the couch when we came downstairs. I sat down on one side of him... and he stayed. Then Justin sat on the other side... and he stayed. In fact, he even cozied up more. It was AMAZING! He stayed like that for an hour. At one point, he even rolled over on his back, in total bliss! Then he kind of opened his eyes and looked around like, "What? What am I doing?" and jumped down shortly thereafter. It reminds me of a line in the King Arthur movie, "I've been in this life more than the other." I think one day he'll feel like that and the cozy, blissed-out Escher will be the one that stays :)

Shannon
I finished the Hygge book! I really hope to incorporate a lot of what is suggested in, and look forward to enjoying coziness and company too!

Suzie

Reg and I have been playing a game where we leave Totoro in places that are unexpected. Reg had a shower, got ready and everything and did not notice Totoro hanging out on top of the dryer. The rest of the day was insane. I swear, it was an early Friday the 13th for me. I dropped and broke things, things got stuck, nothing worked right, dropped my pan-fried bread on the floor... I usually don't have bad luck on Friday the 13th but now I'm a little worried. If today was bad, what will tomorrow bring?

January 12, 2017

Jamie

As I get ready for the Junk Journal Journey class, I treated myself to a little package of ephemera from Etsy. My favourite part of it is actually the ideas it generates and the way it makes me want to go through my magazines and cut them down into what could be useful for creating. A big theme for me this year is letting go to make room for transformation and goodness. I spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about what to let go of in the studio and came to some big decisions. Suzie, I so admire the way you can cut fiercely through what no longer serves you. This is a great challenge for me but this year I can feel how important it is.

Shannon
I took almost no pictures today! Got tucked into some lists and Excel stuff (shocker!). I did take this one. I love the trees out the window. I guess I traded one tree (Christmas) for another! I also wanted to check how it was after the very active wind last night. I heard a few branches scamper across the roof, but overall it doesn't look too worse for wear.

Suzie

Really down today so I focused on getting my Etsy sale ready. Didn't help that my Flickr account and my domain name all required updating so any money I make from this sale is already spoken for. Yeah, feeling down.