i do vancouver

still life font

2012-01-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

i can cut intricate shapes out of vinyl free-hand in one go. i can take amazing photographs. i can sketch in sharpies and have my lines come out correctly as i put them down on the page (or plastic bottle, or any given surface). no pencils for me.

i was always the kid that could draw the line art bear in the newspaper that would garner you a grand prize. my dad and i were recently talking about my grade 11 art teacher that gave me a poor grade because he thought art came easy to me and he had assumed that i didn't put any effort into my painting because of it (jealous, much, mr. miata?). i can draw what i see, but i am hyperaware that i cannot create something from mid-air. when i sat down to design some a friend's logo, i figured i would be able to draw what i formed out of string on my lap; it proved more difficult than expected, so i took photographs of each letter i created. a special thank you to andrew's extra pack of star wars shoelaces.

my bride with a late night french fry buffet

2012-01-14T13:03:00.001-08:00

anna and brian from stitch pixie on Vimeo.

dance dance dance

2012-01-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

i am cleaning my computer room and need to type out a random note i need to recycle and commit to memory.
- chainé right, tuck right knee to chest, fan left leg to do an inside jumping turn
- pirouette with knee at knee to sauté arabesque
- saute de basque chassé seconde
- turning sauté arabesques front/back
- turning pas de chat in parallel
- piqué saute de basque

my bride with the fantastic pre-reception food

2011-11-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

cream puffs and homemade beef stew that's even better than what you can get at din tai fung? yes please! click here to see her same day edit by avec lumiere out of california.

borscht; steam the beets, simmer the veggies in white wine

2011-10-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

•3 quarts beef or chicken broth
•1/4 tsp butter
•2 garlic cloves, minced
•white wine
•1 turnip, thinly sliced
•1 teaspoon dried marjoram
•2 celery stalks, trimmed, thinly sliced
•1 carrot, peeled, thinly sliced
•1/2 head shredded cabbage
•1 bay leaf
•salt and pepper to taste
•4 beets, peeled, grated
•4 tbsp lemon juice
•sour cream

other recipes involve:
•no beets at all!
•1/4 cup dill, minced
•2 onions, diced
•1 leek, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
•2 parsnips, peeled, thinly sliced
•whole allspice berries
•potatoes
•bacon
•meat
•2 Tbsp tomato paste
•6 Tbsp honey
•beet stalks and beet greens
•pickle juice

Scrub beets, cut off tops an inch from the base. I steam them in a double boiler and peel off the skin with gloves when they've cooled. Reserve any juices that have dripped into double boiler. Other recipes bake them in foil or boil them.

Bring broth to a simmer while you prepare the vegetables. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat with the butter. Add garlic. Cook for 1 minute and stir in the marjoram.

Add the celery, turnips, carrot, and cabbage. I add a generous splash of wine to minimize the use of butter. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are slightly tender, about 8 minutes

Add the vegetables and bay leaf to broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer partially covered for 10 minutes before grating the beets directly into the soup. Add any beat juices that dripped into the double boiler. Simmer, partially covered, until the soup is flavorful and the vegetables are completely tender, about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice.

Cover and chill in fridge for a few hours or overnight. Reheat before serving, but not to boiling or the color will disappear. Serve with sour cream.

my bride with bacon at the buffet

2011-10-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

2011-09-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

i've decided to indulge my interest in antiques without acquiring things . above and below are three photos from stores in monroe this past weekend. i did come home with a small $3 ceramic fawn, a small animal i had been scouring ebay for with no luck for a macro photography project.

when i was a child, i wanted to receive gifts that lasted, not a) intangibles or b) items that would soon cease to exist - for example, a box of chocolates. however, i could stretch out said box of chocolates to last over a month by rationing myself to a quarter of a hedgehog a day.

while at ubc i collected many items, supplies if you will, and i made too few things with them; bagfuls of random art-starts from urban source on main, buttons and zippers and findings that dressew has probably had since the 1970's, 50's kitchen tables from weekend garage sales, and a hoard of fabric that still lives in the cupboards of my mother's laundry room. now as an "adult," i fear acquiring things and being gifted with things. i think i have accumulated enough things for several lifetimes. add to that my ingrained inability to discard, throw out, or give away, and you can see my predicament.

dan's mother is so majestic. she paints in watercolors, she can throw together amazing dinner parties with the bat of an eye, and she's a former politician without ever being in your face with a left wing agenda. i think she is part of a club that wears large hats and gets together for tea. we visited her in july, and she had just come home from brock house's annual junk sale. "where else could you get two-in-one iron/telephone from the 1950's?" i responded that i didn't need any more things, gifted or otherwise. she concurred, motioning toward the waving queens on the windowsill that i had already taken a photo of in fascination. "and the wizard of oz slipper candlesticks, hideous, but they simply have to be on display, because what if the gift-giver was to visit?"

i resisted at first, but then realized i could take photos of all the junk and i excitedly dragged dan and andrew along. i think i am channeling her grandiosity hence all the italics.

my bride with the bainbridge wedding

2011-09-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

my groom who made an amazing meal

2011-09-05T23:14:00.000-07:00

who knew quinoa could be so, so good! did i mention the bride's best friend singlehandedly created everything on the most fantastic dessert table i have ever seen? the perfect summer evening filled with spectacular fresh food, love, and family. family included a sweet little girl who referred to herself in the third person that she had candy so the bride and groom would smile for her camera. ...if i was a flower growin' wild and free, all i'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee...

kathryn+connor

2011-08-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

my bride who made everything...my bride who made everything beautiful.

2011-07-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

torrential downpours in the middle of july? i love that my groom, who proposed while scuba diving, lived it up at castle fun park with his men in their kilts before they transformed saar banks farm with everything the bride and their families had made with such love - from centerpieces, to handpainted signs, to a top-notch fondant cake, to handmade bridesmaid dresses (love!).

i will remember the ring bearer tapping his feet to the beat of the bagpipes during the license signing. i will also remember eating curry at the Currie/Caldwell wedding.

abandoned in a library parking lot

2011-06-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

dad - did you know about the filippino "yes"?

2011-05-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

the sign said: do not feed pigeons

2011-05-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

2011-05-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

goodbye penang with your surprisingly potable ice cubes that gave me iced milo, watermelon smoothies, teh tarik in a dangling baggie from an indian street hawker, pad poh, nutmeg juice, and sirop. sirop tasted like flower perfume.

2011-04-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

hello world, i'm three weeks old!

2011-04-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

2011-03-10T10:12:00.000-08:00

2011-03-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

porn star, ron jeremy, in the flesh and dressed like a librarian at eastlake's porn debate this past saturday

mary and guillaume and "?"

2011-02-20T23:30:00.000-08:00

mary and guillaume had one of the most memorable weddings i've ever been to, with an intimate backyard ceremony where every guest had something sweet to say, followed by fabulous french cuisine. their family's handmade handmade quilt and gorgeous watercolor guestlist is now in their bedroom. i love how they've intertwined their home in their wedding and pregnancy photos, and a beautiful home it is!

greta and andy

2011-02-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

if you watch nothing else watch 1:42-1:49

2011-01-06T22:08:00.000-08:00

mary and guillaume from stitch pixie on Vimeo.

jonathan and dawn are getting hitched

2010-12-30T22:59:00.000-08:00

christmas with my family

2010-12-30T21:01:00.000-08:00

christmas with my family means my mother's perogies, my auntie ditas's cabbage rolls, remembering not to ladel the kutya (ukranian dessert) onto my plate of turkey even though it's the same color as gravy, and "the game" - finally... a chance to pawn off my ridiculous belly dancing kit to an unsuspecting cousin. who knew it would be so hard to get rid of a rice cooker in a room full of filipinos, or that there would be three identical sets of knives that everyone would fight over.

christmas with the in-laws

2010-12-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

kortney + ronan

2010-12-12T19:47:00.001-08:00

2010-12-09T00:09:00.000-08:00

prints

2010-10-28T00:07:00.001-07:00

pillow case prints i made at my eastlake growth group today.

i think my parents brought their pumpkin home

2010-10-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

fall

2010-10-16T21:55:00.001-07:00

kelly and michael

2010-10-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

my october bride

2010-10-02T00:17:00.000-07:00

arcade fire, key arena

2010-09-30T11:15:00.001-07:00

my bride who married her high school sweetheart

2010-09-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

my bride who married her high school sweetheart, whose mother knew all the words to all the songs on the dance floor, whose father-in-law could do the robot like nobody's business, cheers to you! lord hill farms in snohomish made the most amazing mashed potatoes with fried curly bits in them.

my bride with the polka dot dress

2010-09-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

to my bride with the most ingenious photobooth ever. i heart your polka dot dress, the pom poms and the birds, your love of video games, and your taste in music. i wish more weddings had death cab and MGMT. p.s. your aunt is more fabulous than carol channing.

jen and dave

2010-09-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

jenny and brandon

2010-09-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

my friend owns a kickass workspace

2010-08-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

you can hold the paper around the tin can and i can be the one to wrap the tape around it.

2010-08-08T22:40:00.000-07:00

editing

2010-08-07T00:04:00.001-07:00

my bride with the dr. suess guestbook, part II

2010-07-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

my bride with the dr. suess guestbook

2010-07-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

sonia+andy

2010-07-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

july 17, 2010

2010-07-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

the bride who played a huge part in pulling off my very own perfect wedding

2010-07-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

to the amazing woman who drove all the way to canada on the hottest day of 2008 to be all at once: make up artist, greeter, MC, DJ, and sound system transporter in 3 inch heels - congrats on being married! may your loyal little blackberry rest in peace.

the wedding with the beautiful handmade quilt

2010-07-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

my bride who got married barefoot in her parent's backyard

2010-07-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

tasha and tim

2010-07-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

mary and guillaume, july 3rd

2010-07-04T02:14:00.000-07:00

friday july 2nd

2010-07-04T02:01:00.000-07:00

melissa + robert

2010-06-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

pat+chant

2010-06-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

i spent the summer of 2006 living in a hotel in westbank, BC, glued to late night reruns of taxi and fame

2010-06-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

we went to europe last fall and i never truly got around to blogging about it. i scoured paris for a sweet little museum gift shop with quirky non-perishables stored in soda pop refrigerators, but it impressed me with a neat little bookstore. twenty or thirty euros seemed steep for these design books, and i vowed i would simply come home and buy them off amazon, but i'm wondering if i was better off getting a petite pattern book right then and there as a nice souvenir.

i've taken a mini-break from wedding editing and made myself a wishlist. i've made really good use of the library lately, something i haven't done since i was a child and i lived in the 741-749 non-fiction section. surprisingly, though i'm nearly twenty years older and in a city 150 miles away, all my books are still in that same 74x block, though now i've expanded my interests from drawing and crafts to encompass art and design. i'm on a long wait list for several neat books at the library, and i'm sure i can slowly rent these 70's/80's tv shows, but these special little books don't exist at the library.... nor do my coveted lenses exist. i'm holding out for the second generation remakes...maybe this summer, canon?

somehow, i came to own almost everything on my last wishlist.

birdies and pussy willows!

2010-06-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

there's always one girl at a wedding that has the best expressions, and usually it's a bridesmaid or random guest. this time, to my delight, it was the bride! i usually tell people to make funny faces to relax their face muscles before a smiling shot, but this girl had cute written all over her face the whole day! and a dapper, expressive man to go with it! crossword puzzle trivia, good hawaiian food, a caricaturist, an endless table of homemade pies and hand-painted cowboy boots made for a fantastic evening.

my stylin' etsy bride

2010-05-31T13:26:00.001-07:00

my stylin' etsy bride, fremont, washington, sunday may 30th.

penticton BC, 359 miles from seattle

2010-05-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

penticton BC, 359 miles from seattle, washington. saturday may 29th.

alaska

2010-05-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

2010-05-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

tess+brent

2010-05-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

tess+brent

2010-05-01T23:15:00.001-07:00

2010-04-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

i made a few little business cards for the new years bride. i was able to get four weddings in the mail today.

italy

2010-04-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

2010-04-22T00:40:00.000-07:00

the pacific dogwood (cornus nuttallii) was adopted in 1956 as british columbia's floral emblem. the houses "east of market" here boast this deliciously pink variety.

album love

2010-04-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

devil went down to georgia....

2010-04-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

tangled up in blue

2010-04-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

2010-04-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

2010-04-04T00:04:00.000-07:00

yes, it really was this pretty

2010-04-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

2010-03-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

easter at eastlake. i need to anticipate easter more next year so i can be more deliberate about choosing something to lent. last year i chose to give up not-cleaning and the mister chose to give up not-eating. this week marks the end of my eastlake growth groups - one for glassblowing (yes, our church "bible study groups" include glassblowing) and the other with a group of strong, amazing women. my prayer request in the latter group each week was always the same - to read the bible, to pray. because i haven't in a very long time.

i received my favorite book as a simple graduation gift from my high school and it's a timeless, no-nonsense, non-mushy/touchy-feely devotional written by a man in 1935.

"Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." Revelation 4:1

...Compare this week in your spiritual history with the same week last year and see how God has called you up higher...Never let God give you one point of truth which you do not instantly live up to. Always work it out, keep in the light of it.

Growth in grace is measured not by the fact that you have not gone back, but that you have an insight into where you are spiritually; you have heard God say "Come up higher," not to you personally, but to the insight of your character.

miss ♥u♥ bert

2010-03-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

i grew up in city with an intense love for hockey, where all the boys in second grade would go to practice at 5am and be trading hockey cards by recess, where my uncle would buy expensive gear year after year for my cousins, when i knew names like lemieux, bure, and gretzky and little else because i personally did not grow up with the game in my family's living room.

in university i saw bertuzzi ward off two guys with one arm while stick-handling the puck with his left hand, all the way down the ice . i gained a great respect for the beast of a man. i'd never seen anyone do that. a year or two later a young kid from the avalanche let a puck slide by so he could hit our captain and top-scorer of the league hard in the head. bert retaliated two games later and was suspended. there was almost a mike tyson/evander holyfield type milieu to the situation, but this one was more career-ending. if the punch didn't snap three vertebrae and cause a concussion, the dogpile with players from each team certainly would have. when bert finally came back to the game, he was drafted to the eastern conference and i lost interest in hockey. so you can imagine my surprise to be taking photos during the national anthem this saturday and read the words bertuzzi on detroit's number 44 player. detroit won with 1 second to go in overtime. did i mention the red wings are my favorite team?

there was a fat child at the concession stand during intermission wearing a canucks bertuzzi jersey. i felt sad for kids like him, who had to watch their hero fall.

philippians 4:23

2010-03-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

i spent the morning skimming through a visual artist's very ethereal blog and it reminded me to get back to the real truth, words that are admittedly godly and not new age.

my favorite

2010-03-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

this is my favorite image from my wedding day, thanks to casey and danielle at mindcastle. i've finally sat down to begin my very own wedding album, while still working on a dozen others.

oanh+liem

2010-03-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

pisa, a diversion from editing

2010-03-09T17:59:00.001-08:00

burnout status, 4:48pm: found pretty image

2010-03-04T16:47:00.000-08:00

editing burnout

2010-03-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

market street

2010-02-25T22:58:00.000-08:00

mark+denise part II

2010-02-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

2010-02-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

oh canada

2010-02-23T22:27:00.000-08:00

oh japadogs and your 1hour+ line up. 45 minutes into it and 6 people away from the front of the line i became fully cognisant of the fact that i do not like japanese food, seaweed, or seafood. bonito flakes looked like they could be a party in my mouth, although i'm glad i asked becuse they turned out to be fish flakes. the edamame dog saved the day.

oh canada. my home and native land. how i wish the united states had:
1. the affordable costco version of raincoast crisps
2. costco two-packs of patak's indian curries (although google has just informed me that i can get six jars at costco.com)
2. packets of teh tarik
3. pan de sal buns from aling mary's - i've found some goldilocks packaged stuff at uwajimaya but it is not the same
4. mccain deep and delicious freezer cake
5. pizza pops - i love taking the perfect bite out of each corner
6. long johns. of the donut variety, not an item of clothing. to be fair they do have them in the states although they call them chocolate bars, and throw in the phrase "like a maple bar, but with chocolate instead." ontario evidently does not have long john donuts in any shape or form, even at tim hortons! ontario-folk also don't understand the term "cross street"
7. strawberry marshmallows

my mother diligently keeps my pantry and fridge stocked with
1. mars bars - these were recently discontinued in the u.s. after the advent of snicker almond
2. brown sugar frosted mini wheats (ironically the US has brown sugar and maple syrup frosted mini wheats)
3. becel margarine - why does promise look deceivingly similar but smell and taste like awful microwave popcorn artificial flavor

how we spent our valentine's

2010-02-22T23:35:00.001-08:00

2010-02-22T11:24:00.001-08:00

me you and peru

2010-02-20T23:30:00.001-08:00

me you and peru from stitch pixie on Vimeo.

happy valentines, happy chinese new year

2010-02-15T00:50:00.001-08:00

2010-02-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

there is too much spring in the air. and the sound of children's voices.

back from peru

2010-02-04T08:07:00.001-08:00

christmas

2010-01-21T20:21:00.001-08:00

we gave my father-in-law a lomo fisheye for christmas and we had fun christmas day at english bay with ridiculously large bronze statues.

today

2010-01-21T16:24:00.000-08:00

my lovely spanish speaking coworker gave me a thoughtful care package with his and hers candies and oh-so-soft granola bars for our trip to peru. she also taught me to say no pescados

i came home to find a wonderful surprise in my mailbox from natasha. thank you!

tonight

2010-01-20T23:18:00.000-08:00

tonight i took an hour of lyrical at kdc, and then booked it across the 520 to northgate to try out a new dance studio. jazz III/IV turned out to be a modern class taught by a sub that was reminiscent of some maggie gyllenhaal-type character who'd be into pottery and connecting with nature through music and dance. that being said, i enjoyed it and stretched muscles i never knew i had.

green men

2010-01-17T23:02:00.000-08:00

the mister is a fan of a) arrested development b) the blue man group and their ties to arrested development c) hockey. i found a blue man bodysuit listed in my dance catalogue and i desperately wanted to order one for him to wear in italy on halloween. needless to say he wouldn't go for it.

fast forward one month and we've got two amazing men pulling my blue-man costumes out in green, à la the new FX show i have yet to watch, terrorizing the players in the away team penalty box. this is most ingenious thing i have ever seen pulled off at a sporting event. at 0:13 he manages to pull off something spastic enough to look like those 2-storey high arm flailing figures at car dealerships. google tells me they had originally meant to wear them to a seattle seahawks game but they didn't ship in time. go canucks go!

for emily.

2010-01-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

me, you + peru

2010-01-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

i can sew random bits of vinyl into elaborate forest scenes, and i can take pictures in almost any light setting imaginable, but to spend the last 3 days trying to create simple images in PNG format was a little challenging. despite the fact i could very well have a photograph printed onto a shirt through cafepress, i opted to design a simple one-color image that reflects which side of the border each of us "me's" are from. on january 23rd i'm taking five americans and two other canucks to peru on a missions trip to help out at a school that teaches disabled children skills like woodworking and sewing. most importantly we're going to get our butts kicked challenging playing soccer with them.

and if anyone wants to make a donation by purchasing a fabulous piece of glass or a photograph, please visit www.meyouandperu.com

teacher, dancer, friend

2010-01-10T23:29:00.000-08:00

the last of 2009, the first of 2010

2010-01-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

new years eve. i could detect many a canadian accent amongst the family and friends at this wedding. her father had remarried 3 times, so she was mothered by a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead growing up. two live music acts included mother #2 on bass with a guitarist who sang a cover of "thirteen" (yay for elliot smith!), and her husband on drums with a lead singer with a voice like amy mann. the latter band stuck to covers because half of their original pieces were about space (yay for space!). heartfelt speeches about the bride revealed that a girl who once looked like winnie cooper blossomed into a woman of many talents, now bearing a striking resemblance to penelope cruise. indeed, she made her bouquet out of coffee filters, and even adhered dozens and dozens of tasty handmade flowers onto her cake within a fifteen minute time span that evening. this was wedding number 18 to mark the end of a year and the start of a new one. it was also the most difficult gig i've done - it was so dark it was like shooting in a cave all night. by myself. so i'm very pleased with how my images came out.

pimpin' the ugly christmas sweaters

2009-12-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

winter II

2009-12-13T17:04:00.000-08:00

winter sunset

2009-12-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

perfect. straight out of the camera.

2009-12-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

happy thanksgiving

2009-11-26T22:20:00.001-08:00

Olivia + Micah from stitch pixie on Vimeo.