{love & marriage}

To YVR and back in a matter of days in the middle of term...maybe I'm crazy but it was well worth it. I attended the wedding of two dear friends--Fraser & Lissa--who are actually somehow related to me: my brother-in-law's brother and sister-in-law...but that just sounds far too complicated.



{the happy bride&groom. Photo: Julia Smith}



I remember walking down the aisle with Fraser myself--not as bride & groom, but as bridesmaid & groomsman, 13 years ago celebrating our respective sibling's wedding: my sister, Julia & Fraser's brother, Craig.



{Julia & Craig's wedding (with me & Fraser on the furthest right). Victoria, BC}



I can't remember when I first met Lissa, but I immediately loved her. Small world, but Fraser & Lissa are both pilots for WestJet & she actually flew me to Montreal when I went back for my defense. It was such a relief to see a familiar face as I got on that plane...and I consider her a close friend now.

In the summer, my sister Julia, hosted a shower for Lissa at her gorgeous home (Julia is an interior designer and everything is always *perfect* down to the small things like choice of napkins or teacups, but in a relaxed sort of way--you always feel at home in her home).

<>

{Lissa & Julia at Lissa's Bridal Shower}

So we have had plenty of fun leading up to this wedding...and there was plenty of fun to be had during the festivities. I arrived straight off the plane and on to the Rehearsal Dinner held at Julia and Craig's house. One long long table extending through their beautiful home allowed everyone to sit down and enjoy dinner...and great conversation was had late into the night outside, by their cosy fire place and sitting area on their terrace with views of the city.

{outside at Julia & Craig's at the Rehearsal Dinner--note the cosy fireplace. Photo: Julia Smith}

I was lucky to have a few quality hours of one on one time with my niece & nephew while the rest of the family & wedding party went for photos before the wedding. We decided to make a wonderful gigantic creation called Doodle Land.

{our doodle land, with the proud designers, Sir Sabo & Princess P}

And finally...yes, the wedding was wonderful. A heartfelt event, with many tears shed...but all good tears... Our families have been interconnected through so many different avenues that I was able to see old & new friends...and even people  I had sailed with as a young lass and hadn't seen in years. It was, however, hard to say goodbye.

{Tying the knot!!!}

Congratulations Fras & Lissa and thank you for letting me be a part of celebrating your wonderful life together.  I am surrounded by four sisters in four wonderful marriages and my parents--childhood sweethearts, who, 5 daughters, millions of nautical miles, numerous houses & plenty of boats later--demonstrate that a loving marriage is possible.
I have had my fair amount of Mr. Wickhams, but I still believe a Mr. Darcy is out there.

{Miss Elizabeth Bennet & Mr. Darcy}

 It is encouraging to hear, in the words of Ms. Austen herself:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
There is still hope.
Congrats Fras & Lissa, I love you both!

{antiquing in allegany county}

One of my favourite things to do is to go browsing antique shops. Lucky for me, I've recently moved to an area where there is an abundance of antique shops...and even luckier for me, they're cheap!  Not so lucky for me, I'm only on a one year contract, so I need to refrain from purchasing everything in sight, especially the lovely furniture that are truly 'one-of-a-kind' pieces.

As I'm used to either non-existent & thus highly-expensive antique shops on the West Coast, or else, lovely yet, usually not the cheapest antiques in the UK, I feel like I'm in Heaven here.
I think the pictures say it all...
First trip was Corning:

{cute shops along Corning's main street}

{I absolutely love this blue colour of this flower shop}

{architectural details on Corning's buildings}

{we stopped for lunch here--a great assortment of beers with outside seating near a lovely fountain}

{a very cute diner that I am very eager to try out--it was closed}

{Twin Tiers Antiques is a great shop: I purchased my first apron here (see below)}

 {Miss Clark would be proud of the signage}

Next stop was Angelica--already frequented it last week but couldn't get enough:

{I got some great gifts here, including a wedding present for a wedding I'm going to this next weekend (I can't disclose what I got, or else it wouldn't be a surprise for the fabulous bride & groom, Fraser & Lissa)}

{This building looks like something out of a stage-set from an old western-I particularly love the colour}

{very cool old converted garage is now a shop with plenty of great finds}

{I especially love these cool old coca cola crates}

 

{I love these old chairs--you could put together a really cool old dining set with a bunch of mix-matches}

Angelica also has a few places to eat--I really like the Bakery's facade, and the little sweet shoppe is something a child would dream of.

{I dream of a pantry like this}

& finally my beloved purchases:

{possibly the cutest bag for the cutest little bird brooch}

{the *perfect* tea table cloth--and doesn't that birdie brooch look absolutely divine with it?}

{I might just start a collection of the cutest aprons ever}

{falling leaves}

While I love the word autumn, the North American term--"fall"--seems to conjure up the idea of falling leaves...
I began teaching last week and have just finished a busy second week of teaching...Fall/autumn always reminds me of getting ready to go back to school as a child...All the preparations that went into "Back to School": buying school supplies, hopefully getting new clothes, or getting hand-me-downs from my older sisters... and the fresh, crisp smell in the air. The leaves begin to change their colours, at night and in the morning there' s a chill in the air, but the sun still shines & the days are still fairly warm.

Around Allegany county the leaves are already starting to change colour. I hear that fall here is absolutely beautiful; the trees riotous with colour. It always reminds me of Canada...falling leaves, and especially the Maple Leaf. I remember when I was 12 and we were sailing down the Baja during fall. We couldn't have been further away from falling leaves and colder temps as we motored in windless weather and looked upon dry, cacti-laden landscape. My favourite album at the time was Bare Naked Ladies' Maybe You Should Drive, and I took comfort in the lyrics from You Will be Waiting:

"As we walk together through the autumn, nearing winter
Through the dying leaves and trees we call our home and native land..."

Somehow it reminded me of home and eased the homesickness.


This past weekend I visited Angelica with a colleague--a town not too far from Alfred that has plenty of antiques. The day was sunny, the central square (actually a circle) was filled with local farmers selling their fresh produce, and  a local winery even had a stall open for wine-tasting. Another reason why I love this time of year: wine harvest!

{Antique Shops in Angelica}

The antique shops had numerous incredible finds and I had to be very disciplined not to buy everything in sight. Around the theme of fall/back to school, I found numerous vintage lunch boxes. In particular, two Strawberry Shortcake lunch boxes that looked like the one my sister, Esther, used to have and that I used to eye-eagerly hoping to inherit one day. Our 5 year-old niece, Paulina, would have especially appreciated these, since Strawberry Shortcake is back in fashion.

{Strawberry Shortcake lunchboxes like this one were on sale at the Antique Shops in Angelica. This one available from primetoystore}

Speaking of fashion, there were a couple of shops with amazing vintage clothing...lovely light gloves suitable for autumn, a variety of hats and head decorations, and scarves...and some great coats.

{Who cares about rain or chilly weather when you've got a dainty hat to wear? These hats look very similar to the vintage hats I saw at the antique shops in Angelica. From BBC's Homes&Antiques}

The comfort of warm cardies and boots always get me excited for fall too...the colours are more subdued--more browns, and greys...and somehow more comforting.

{I love this combo of brown boots, a dainty hat & a lovely purse from Lola & Emily in Montreal}

and the theme of leaves always makes me want to adapt nature to fashion. I love these gold earrings shaped as leaves that I got from Forever XXI...and they have loads more different styles. I love true bling, but I have a tendency to lose earrings, so these cheaper ones are sometimes a better (& safer) bet for me.

{gold 'leaf' earrings from Forever XXI (a few seasons ago). This was taken on Bowen Island on a trip I took with my parents (their boat Passat in background}

{These are also from Forever XXI
 in 2009--I love them!}

{Also from Forever xxi}

{and this lovely leaf necklace from FreshyFig}

...and leaves always make me think of Daphne being turned into a laurel tree, pursued by Apollo, executed by Bernini between 1622 and 1625...I love the way her hair and her hands softly turn into the branches & then leaves of a tree...

{Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, 1622-25, Carrara marble, height 243 cm Galleria Borghese, Rome}

and speaking about trees, I couldn't leave out Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree...always a favourite for young & old.

...and why not decorate the house with some fally-feely tree-inspired decorations?

{How about this cool tree-branch inspired chandelier? by Jessica Johnson}

{or this lovely one from Neiman Marcus?}

{FALL candles available on  Etsy}

{or what child wouldn't want to sleep in this tree-fort inspired child's bed from MacKenzie Child's ?}

And finally, to end--one of my favourite poems about autumn:

'All things have something more than barren use;

There is a scent upon the briar,

A tremulous splendour in the autumn dews,

Cold morn are fringed with fire.'

--Alexander Smith

{USB Typewriter}

{I'm in love!}

As someone who absolutely L.O.V.E.S typewriters and the look & feel of them, I was happy to see this latest post on Etsy. Yes, typewriters that can be connected to your computer screen! I just had to share this short & sweet post...
Now who doesn't love the sound of a typewriter??!!!

{available from $450 USD, on Etsy}