Look what I received by mail today :)

I won a pair of tickets to the National Home Show from Lisa over at Condos by Canning! I never win anything so I'm super excited. S and I haven't been to this show before and we want to have a house someday (my not-so-secret secret is daydreaming over MLS) so this is awesome. Thank you Lisa! 

I also received my Woodland Sampler Floss Kit and tea-dyed evenweave today from the workroom. I could have tried to use what I have from my DMCs but I never used the Cosmo brands before and it just seemed so much easier to get the bundle. Now all I need to do is catch up with the Woodland Sampler and do my Superhero ABCs at the same time...

Google reader is retiring and I'm upset.

I stalk follow a lot of blogs and google reader was the easiest tool to use out there. It had a simple template and nothing flashy- perfect. According to the blog post above, the reader retiring since the usage of Google Reader is down which kind of scares me. Will they someday retire Gmail or Blogger if people don't use them as much as Google wants us too? I feel a bit threatened and makes me want to not use google products so much anymore.

For now I found another tool that I've been trying out since last night. It's called feedly and let's you import your Google Reader feeds with a click of a button. What's even better? They were ready to respond with Google Reader's retirement:

It's this great?

And this is how it looks like when you log in.

It still has the categories and 'stars' (it's called 'saved' in feedly) I made with the Google Reader so I don't feel like I lost anything. I don't like the magazine layout but I was able to change the view mode into 'Full Article' at preferences. You can also change the themes (which is just changing the background colour) or what you see on the front page when you come online. I changed mine up a bit after taking this screenshot. It also has an app for IOS & Android which I haven't tried it out yet.

Overall, I like feedly so far. It's a bit fancier than Google Reader but I'm sure once I get the hang of it I'll like it just as much.

I went to an opening reception of a dear friend and her husband's installation at the A Space Gallery last week. I have never seen anything like it. The way bike wheels, reclaimed wood and some strings create energy & movement without electricity was pretty amazing and simply beautiful. More information can be found here:

* Look at those cheeks!!!（*´▽｀*）

Heather & Michael's work will be on display until the end of March at A Space Gallery in 401 Richmond St West :)

The Textile Museum of Canada Volunteer Association gave away free books and fabric yesterday in the building where I work. I picked up a few pattern books and fabric. Did I mention they were free? Love it. They are having another event on March 1 & 2, 12pm to 4pm. Fabrics are not free but for $3 - $5 per metre, it's still a great deal. I have a meeting that ends at 12:30pm on Friday so I'll be running downstairs after it's over. I'm sure a few of my co-workers will run down with me :)

One of my favourite etsy store weelittlestitches had a sale a few weeks ago as well so I bought some patterns that I've been eyeing for a long time. (1/2/3) I started the Superhero Alphabet Sampler last night and I still need to get more thread but I already love how it's coming along.

I wasn't feeling well again today so I sewed something new to distract me. This was my first try & I didn't have all the materials but the baby shoe still looks adorable. Can't wait to try this again with the right materials. 

I had a yard of Liberty London's quilting fabric left so I decided to make another tie. I only used their silkier fabrics until now for ties so I wonder how this one will turn out to. The fabric does feel a lot more stiff/thick compared to regular fabrics. Stay tuned.

The Sunday Antique Market

One of the things I like to do on a Sunday morning is walk over to The Sunday Antique Market if we have nothing planned for the day. It's only a 15 minute walk from home (and I walk really slow) and fun to see what's around.

The Sunday Antique Market opens every Sunday, from 5am to 5pm at the North St. Lawrence Market building. It's always a good idea to go early if you have something specific in mind & vendors also tend to start closing their booths around 4pm. There are more vendors during warm weathers as well since a lot of them spread through outside the building. The best parking space is located south of the St. Lawrence south building but it's pricier than the one on 2 Church St. Parking can be a pain though so walking or TTC is much preferred.  

Sorry for the lack of pictures- the booth owners were giving me the look whenever I lifted by camera. 

The Sunday Market has smaller items for your home and not a lot of large furnitures compared to other antique markets. (But for someone who lives in a condo in downtown Toronto, the furnitures are too big anyway) There's always someone with the ever popular vintage wooden crates, mason jars and books &  I love digging through their vintage accessory booths or vintage teacups. Located in downtown Toronto and opening every Sunday, it's also the most accessible market for me at the moment.

A few things I've picked up at The Sunday Market so far are:

A Cathrineholm lotus pot without a lid for $5 

A vintage double picture frame for $5 that I used for our wedding

An old chest for $60 (I had to haggle for this one though) 

Yes, someone else's trash can definitely be my treasure! 

Valentine 2013

This was our first Valentine's Day as a married couple but we stayed home and had dinner, then went to bed early. It wasn't what you would typically call a romantic night, but I was in a lot of pain yesterday to a point where I almost called 911. I got scolded from both Mom and S for not calling them, but I think I passed out from the pain.

All in all, we had a good evening & morning after. S brought home flowers that's already in a vase by our window and gave me the sweetest card with THE GIFT- a Gloomy Bear Kigurumi!

 

Kigurumi is basically a full-body, hooded animal pyjamas that kind of looks like a costume but really is just a super cute onesie from Japan. Kigurumi Canada, where S bought it from, is coming to ComiCon this year so we plan on getting one for him as well- they're soft, warm and super cute!

As for myself, I got him a video card for his computer (yes, both our gifts are kind of dorky) and made him a tie. I hand stitched a small heart with his initials to make it a bit more special :) 

Happy Valentine's Day!

PS: I am thinking about selling handmade ties online this year. Should I do it?
PSS: I need photoshop...

S had to come to Niagara Falls today so I came along to stay overnight and make this a mini weekend trip. I was entertaining myself with blackjack (which I found out today that I'm rather good at it) when he called and said he was coming back early. He thinks he has gout and can barely walk. His twin brother had it last week and they are pretty linked so I wouldn't be surprised if he really does have it. I finally got him to sleep right now but I may have to call his parents tomorrow to ask for their help getting home.

On an additional note, I am never coming back to Crown Plaza on Niagara Falls ever again. Their customer service at the lobby really frustrated me tonight.

I always crave for soup when it gets cold and boy did it get cold today. I made some cream of mushroom soup but it was too salty. Wish I used more milk.
I still haven't figured out if I want to use blogspot, wordpress or keep my tumblr. I figured I can try this for a while and see where it goes. Good night.