Monday 27 February 2012

Beekeeping



For a while now I have been dreaming of becoming a beekeeper. I find bees fascinating! I'm also born to do it since my name means honey bee and I'm obsessed with Chuck from Pushing Daisies so.... In all seriousness I do hope to one day have bees and I really enjoyed watching this short documentary.



Choosing a Venue


Eric and I had it pretty easy when it came to finding our reception hall. Having our wedding in a small town meant that there was limited selection. After going around and seeing a few places the one that fit our theme of “fall-rustic-wood-lodge-lumber-jack-wedding” was actually the nicest and cheapest (jackpot!). The place we picked is a mill from 1870 that has been completely redone and turned into an inn and restaurant. Each room is made from a different type of wood (a lumberjack’s dream, no?), there’s a gorgeous sunroom, pond, forest, etc. Exactly what we had pictured! They provide the catering so we wouldn’t have to find someone ourselves. This is going to be easy!


We met with them a second time to finalize details and go over costs (scary!). We have a very specific budget and are trying very hard not to go over so we knew we would have to be good negotiators. The thing with negotiating prices is you can’t be ridiculous or you won’t be taken seriously, but you also don’t want to be a mouse or you could be taken advantage of.* Before going into the meeting we knew the venue was going to be $100 to rent and the catering was $24 a plate (they only offer buffet style, but we have no problem with that especially because the price per plate would probably be astronomical if there were waiters). After attending a few friends weddings one thing we found ridiculous was that there was always a desert and a wedding cake that NO ONE ends up eating! We decided to ask if the desert could be cut in order to make the price per plate cheaper, which, we thought, was a pretty fair negotiation. We thought they would take off maybe $2 per plate, but decided not to suggest that and see what they come up with if they would even cut the desert (you never know if they would offer more so wait to see what they say). We were in luck! They were fine with cutting the desert and they even took $4 off a plate! We felt very satisfied with our negotiating skills!


The hidden costs. Ok, they weren’t actually hidden, just things we didn’t think of or that were addressed in our first run through of the place. Linens, bar tender, wine for dinner all cost money (who would think!). There was no negotiating these as the cheapest bottle of wine is the cheapest and their liquor license only allows for them to serve (so we can’t bring our own bottles and pay a corking fee. Something for you to think about though as many reception halls are licensed for this. Our venue isn’t because they’re more a restaurant with a private room so they never thought of a corking license). The bar tender is also a set fee ($20 an hr), but where we saved was choosing the cash bar option rather than the open bar (we definitely can’t afford a $3000 bar tab at the end of the night. Eek!).  Lastly, the linens. It was kind of a disappointment to find out we have to pay for linens, because they changed this rule between our first and second meeting. In their defence their linens are extremely old (and they only have one set) so they’re not in very good shape. Because of this they decided to hire an outside company which we rent from and it’s not all that expensive (around a $1 a table cloth) and you can choose from a hundred colours where their linens were only white. I am definitely happier with clean $1 cloths than dirty ones for free.


*Speaking of being taken advantage of a friend of mine works at a bakery and a basic vanilla cake for a party starts at $200 and for a wedding starts at $400. Just shows you how inflated the wedding industry is!

Monday 6 February 2012

Bubble Betty


How cute is this rain hat by Bubble Betty! It's the modern version of your grandmas rain hat with unique prints from lace to leopard to tattoos. I definitely want to get one soon! Such a cute idea!

Sunday 5 February 2012

Crayon Artwork


Here is the big unveil! The artwork Eric and I made last weekend was melted crayons on a canvas. I had seen this done quite often with a blow dryer but a few weeks back I saw someone who used a hot glue gun. It worked out very well and was easy and inexpensive! You do ruin your glue gun or... two glue guns if you're Eric and me. We were almost done our "masterpiece" when the glue gun blew up in Eric's hands! Sparks and big black cloud came pouring out so definitely be careful!

(that's how much we had left to do when the gun exploded)

What we used:
- Two different shades of each colour crayon and about 3 crayons per shade
- Two hot glue guns... hopefully you will only need one!
- A canvas
- Cardboard to protect your floor from stray crayon

The consistency of the crayon was very different from what we imagined. We thought it would be kind-of chunky but it actually turned completely liquid and it didn't take nearly as many crayons as predicted (we bought 12 boxes!). To make the circle I think it would be hard to do by yourself as I turned the canvas and Eric applied the crayon. That's basically it! It was very easy to do and a fun way to spend last Sunday night!

(Death of the glue gun. Previously gun was not black inside and as you see even without exploding crayon gets everywhere inside and out making the gun useless for glue later.)

(final product)

Friday 3 February 2012

Ulyana Sergeenko

There is no one who can wear vintage/vintage inspired and make it look as fresh and modern as Ulyana Sergeenko.




don't forget to click the link below to see more pictures!

Thursday 2 February 2012

French Press Coffee



I am not a coffee connoisseur, just a regular girl who needs a cup in order to face the day ahead. I love coffee and found I was spending a small fortune buying out every morning. I’m not quite sure how I decided on a French press, but I think I thought it would be cheaper than buying a drip machine. Today’s post I am going to explain how I have perfected* my morning cup of coffee over the past year. Now, you must understand that I do not have the best equipment, the most knowledge, and I have my own taste buds not yours, however with lots of trial, error, and reading I am finally consistently happy with the taste of my morning cup.

My equipment:
-          Mild Roast Coffee Beans

1)     I start by measuring two tablespoons of mild roast beans bought from my local espresso bar.
2)       I grind them until they’re about medium coarse, which I read on I need coffee.

3)       I boil my water and make sure I don’t let it boil longer than a second or two. Once I take it off the heat I let it stand for 10 mississippi’s. This allows the water to cool down just enough.
4)       I pour the water into the press, place the plunger and lid on top, and slowly press down the plunger half an inch. I forget where I heard to do this, but I remember something about it allowing the grinds to properly brew.

5)       I then wait 4 mins and slowly press down the plunger.
6)      Now for a very long time I struggled with what to put in my coffee. I used sugar for some time and then moved to raw sugar and then to honey, always trying to find a more natural, healthier, tastier choice. I finally discovered Agave Nectar and haven’t looked back. It is the perfect sweetness and doesn’t change the taste of the coffee (which was my problem with honey. I do love honey, but I wanted to taste the bean). I put in half a teaspoon per cup, but I don’t like my coffee too sweet. I also use a drop of milk, not cream, because I also found it to overpower the coffee.


There you have it. My extremely basic version of the perfect cup of French press coffee. Everything I know is from word of mouth and the wonderful website I Need Coffee.



Wednesday 1 February 2012

Wishing for Spring!

It has been such a weird winter. One day it will be -3 and Toronto will get 3 inches of snow and the next it will be +7 and beautiful! All I know is spring feels closer every second and I can't wait to get my hands on a pair of the floral Citizen jeans that are all over the blogesphere. When I first laid eyes on them in this Vogue spread I knew I had to have them! I'm also wishing for a pair of the baroque Prada sunglasses (still!), Marc by Marc Jacobs sparkly mouse flats, and lots and lots of stripes!
Spring