One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning is to go to our local farmer’s market. Since last year the market has grown substantially and now offers fresh fruit and veggies, wildflowers, cheese, organic meat, coffee, wicked pastries and bread. The park is buzzing with tiny kids learning soccer skills, hula hoopers, musicians, and last Saturday, a class of 15  kids showing off their Karate skills. Awesome. Relaxed.

One of my favorite farmers had tomatillos this week. I have never bought them before but have been dying to get my hands on some to make this recipe from Martha along with my tacos. (Obsessed with tacos these days)

I also bought some of these little guys called groundcherries. Have you ever had them before? YUM!

They have the texture of a really firm tomato but are sweet and earthy tasting. Craziness.

I bought 2 cartons. We ate them like popcorn.  Only half made it home.

The markets around here will be closing by the end of the month.

It will be a long haul until May so I am making sure I get there every weekend.

Living room before

When we moved here over 2 years ago, we did a lot of work on the top floor and in the basement and then the yard, but we left the main floor as it was. I tried a hundred different ways to make it work but the vibe in the room really never worked for me. I like bright pops of color and whites that make a room feel full of sun and air.

 Before

So when we were away this summer Michael Chipman and Adam Gaudreau at Riverdale Painting (416-220-4060 Riverdalefinishes@gmail.com) came over and gave the place a fresh coat of paint- inside and out. These fellas are amazing artists with great vision.

Afters

With a bit of de-cluttering, the main floor is sparse, super cheery and a breeze to clean up at the end of the day- a must with a one year old running around. My sister keeps popping by with her computer instead of going to her favorite coffee shop. She likes to work at the dining room table by the orange wall. She says it makes her feel cheery to be here. And I am making a mean Americano these days.

We got this great old bench at Guff on Queen Street East. It reminds me of the benches in my high school. It weighs a tonne and is the perfect height for Gus to put all of his toys on and play. I use it for extra seating, to write on my computer and to put my legs up at the end of the day.

I picked up these funny pillows from Ikea to tie the grey couch in with the rest of the room.

 I replaced the smokey 80’s glass on this table with clear tempered glass. (I found the table in the garbage and the new glass on Craig’s List.)

Yup, we need a kitchen reno, but the new paint really brightened up the space. My artwork pops and color is back on the table again! The marbled tree print is by Robert Wu.

 And finally our main floor resembles the rest of our house. The artwork above the pay phone is Pin Up #1 by Kelly Grace  I got the tiny canvas below the shelves from Tush Tush on etsy.

There are of course lots of new things I would love to add.  A built-in to hide all of our media mess is at the top of the list but all in good time. I try to tackle one project in the summer and one in the winter if time and money permit. For now the space is welcoming, simple and sunny and that makes my heart happy.

Thanks for stopping by. 

When your foot looks like this…

and you are not looking or feeling your finest…

a course of action needs to be taken….

to start feeling a bit like your old, fun self.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks with a “bike lock meets foot” accident, followed by an infection (poor old foot) and antibiotics , migraines, mouse infestation, broken shocks on the car, and a sick one year old. Sometimes a gal just has to make a little change to get things moving in a new direction!

I have been working on a project with my sister for the last few months that came to a finish last weekend. Amy had been feeling that the stuff in her home was getting out of control and that her “things” were taking over. She wanted a massive paring down to simplify her life. The house had become unmanageable and the clutter seemed insurmountable.

Amy’s closet after.

So…we decided to tackle it together. I would come 1 day a week until we were done. We started with Amy’s closet on that first Sunday. It took 8 hours to finish but it looked amazing and she could finally find everything in it! We were stoked.

Upstairs work in progress.

I made up spreadsheets, checklists and constructed a timeline with the hope of getting it all done before the kids went back to school. I sent weekly emails with design ideas, inspirations and encouragement. I was on a mission!

I left Amy with homework to do every week to maximize our next work session. She was so cool and open to my suggestions even though I am sure I was unbearably picky at times.

Office corner after.

She was most excited when we transformed a rarely used spare bedroom into a home office for her. She was the only person in her house who did not have a room of her own. Now she has a place to shut the door, listen to music, and have some quiet and creative time.

Family room before and after.

With each van load to the consignment shops and Goodwill, Amy would breathe a little deeper.

Family room before and after.

Each week I would return and every room we had worked on had stayed in a clutter free state. With much less stuff to look after, it was easier to keep it all in check.

Closet before and after.

In the end we managed to de-clutter the house in six 8-hour shifts. 48 hours in total. We celebrated with a big shopping spree. Kidding.

Is your stuff taking over? Don’t know where to start? Here are a few things that really helped us along the way.

• Start small. A kitchen drawer. A linen closet.
• Get a friend to come and help. A second opinion on whether or not you should part with that 1980’s dress is invaluable. (Cocktails also help.)
• Make piles for consignment, shelters, goodwill and recycling and deliver them right away.  If you don’t, there is a good chance it will all end up back in your closet. It happens. I have done it.

                     Maintenance Tips

• Use the “one thing in, one thing out” policy. Buy something new, part with something old.
• When you are shopping ask yourself if you really need that new item.
• Mend rather than spend.
• Try for a Spring and/or Fall reassessment, and a monthly mini clean out. Especially if you have kids.

A final note: I don’t think that having lots of stuff is a bad thing. Everyone knows I love my stuff. (I am a Taurus after all.) All the homes I know and love feel warm and beautiful partially because of the objects inside them. Our stuff says a lot about us. These things we have chosen to surround ourselves with are a reflection of how we see the world, what gives us comfort, what our passions are. I just think when your stuff starts to take over your life rather than add to it, a good paring down is in order.

 I finally gave our living room a much needed facelift (more on that later) and afterwards I realized my favorite vintage lamp  looked a little plain in the new room.

My sister Emma said the shade was hideous and that I should throw some electrical tape around it to brighten it up.

So I picked up some orange color coding tape at the hardware store and added a simple stripe on both edges, but I couldn’t stop there.

Or there….

Perfect! Slightly crooked, trendy stripes!

My friend was over the other day and asked what the hole in the lawn was for. I told him it was for our clothesline. He asked if our patio umbrella fit into the hole.  I had no idea. Two years with this hole in our lawn and I had never thought to see if the patio umbrella fit.

It did! Ever since  I  have been throwing my favorite bedspread on the lawn, popping in the umbrella and enjoying the last of the warm weather before the trees start to change. It’s nice for a fall picnic too! Do you have one of these in your yard? Give it a whirl.

It has been over a year since my last post and I can think of no better time to start blogging again than the Fall. Back to school is in the air and with it comes possibility, adventure, sleeping weather, great movies, delicious books, cozy sweaters and turning leaves. My favorite time of year for certain. (I try not to think about what follows.)

I hope to continue the site in the same vein as before but my adventures may be a little closer to home and always with a little person in tow. I will post Wednesdays but may post more often if time permits.

Scroll down for an “end of summer” recipe that I made 2 nights ago. It was super yummy.

I love blogging for the site. I have missed it. Love to hear from you anytime.

Best,

Vic

I picked up a bag Ontario arugula (rocket) at the Creemore Farmer’s Market last weekend. It was the inspiration for this recipe. I was wowed by how yummy it turned out. (As you may know from my other posts, this does not always work out for me.) You will need:

• 1 handful of soba noodles. (I used 3/4 of a 350g bag)
• 1 cup of frozen shelled edamame
• Arugula (Enough to fill the base of two dinner plates)
• 4 eggs for poaching
• S and P

Get cooking!

• Boil soba as per the directions on the package. After it is cooked, drain it and run it under cool water
• Cook edamame in boiling water as per the directions on the package. After cooking, drain and run under cool water.
• Poach eggs in water.
• Wash and dry arugula
• Place the arugula on 2 dinner plates. Add soba noodles and then sprinkle the edamame on top. Top with 2 poached eggs per plate.
• Add salt and pepper.

The egg should be a bit runny so it mixes in with the rest of the ingredients and enhances the flavour. You could add a mild dressing on top if you want, but it was wonderful without.

Pair with a glass of white wine or a pitcher of water with orange slices in it and you have a lovely easy end of summer meal.

**I made a kid version for my little guy too. I left out the arugula, chopped up the soba noodles and edamame and added a scrambled egg. He loved it!

The lovely front windows at Sideshow Cafe.

It is hard to believe that a year has passed since Suitably Cool launched with the Sideshow Café post- the little café where I spent many afternoons teaching myself blog software over Americanos and coffee cake. It was exciting to be blogging everyday for 7 months straight. Some posts were stronger than others. Some, that I spent hours laboring over, were far less interesting than others that seemed to fall from the sky in the 11th hour.

The blog changed to a once weekly post starting in February in order for me to jump on board with Diana C. at A Touch of Vintage. I never knew what the site would become or where it would take me. It was meant to be an adventure and it has been!

Thank you Michael Chan!

SC would have been no more than a fantasy had it not been for Michael Chan who put up with me through dozens of edits on the initial look and design of the site and who happily was photographed in dozens of posts. I would make him eat things that I had made and he never once complained, not even about the coffee cake…see below.

In the course of a year, myself along with bloggers Amy, Emma, Diana, and Lydia, have written 197 articles in total. A big thanks to all of you for bringing your own personal style and energy to this site. I couldn’t have done it without you! And a special thank you to everyone who opened up your homes and businesses and allowed us to interview you for many of our posts.

SC will be stay online for your perusal and reference. I may continue blogging again after getting settled into a new rhythm with the baby. I will keep you updated on facebook, twitter, or you can join the RSS feed. If you are not on any of these social networks, you can fire off a comment or email and I will keep you in the loop if/when I return.

I hope the site will continue to inspire you to seek out the wondrous and the pleasurable in your life- even in mundane chores. Writing for the site has opened my eyes to the beauty, possibility and adventure that surround us all.

Thank you again for your amazing support and comments! You have kept me going for the last year.

Now on with today’s post! I spent all afternoon combing through a year’s worth of posts and put together a compilation of some favorite articles. Just click on the pictures to take you to the article! Enjoy!

From Sad to Sexy.

A Note on Notes.

Doorknob Coat Rack.

A Compost Post.

Cozy Cashmere Hot Water Bottle Cover.

The Dance Break.

The DIY Welcome Mat.

The magic art of t-shirt folding with video!!!

The Polaroid Project.

Scarf Raving Mad!

Favorite things.

From Lone Earring to Necklace.

Natural Room Freshener

Hong Kong trip- The Big Buddha.

Left Over Rice Pudding.

At Home Hand Scrub.

Stumped.

Make your own French Press Herb Keeper.

Salad Rolls.

Follow the trail.

The $25.00 Coffee Cake.

Garage Sale Season.

Pretty Pedaling.

Laundry Getting You Down?

Haiku For Happiness.

Bed bath and book= a big day.

I have been thinking a lot about the final two posts for suitablycool. I would like to go out with a bang; write about some really cool adventures, gorgeous crafts, mind blowing recipes and throw around some new ideas brimming with possibility. And yet, here I am back in bed at 12:58pm on a rainy Tuesday afternoon barely able to keep my eyes open.

Watch laundry dry while reading outside- check.

The truth is for the last couple of weeks the bulk of my life has consisted of reading, sleeping, watching Freaks and Geeks and having baths.  Not very adventurous, except perhaps in one way: this is potentially the first time in my life where I have actually stopped. Really stopped.

After a busy May, I promised myself that June was going to be a month of rest before the baby came. Note: I say things like this all the time and then somehow manage to fill up my days and nights with projects.

Watch herbs grow- check.

But surprisingly June has been a real rest month. I would like to say this is because I have undergone some kind of spiritual evolution, but it’s truthfully because I just don’t have the energy. My body has decided to call the shots and for the first time in my life, I am slowing down. There is no gas in the tank.

Eat cookies- check.

At first, it made me really anxious. Beyond work, I had tasks to cross off lists, emails to answer, cards to mail, projects to start and baby things to prep!  But in the last few weeks, the anxiety has subsided and that nagging feeling of “I should be doing something right now” pops up less and less.

For the first time in my life I am ok with letting a day slip by into the night without accounting for how much I accomplished in that 24-hour period. Maybe this letting go, is the ultimate preparation for becoming a parent?  I think I will ponder this as I crawl under my duvet.

See you next week.

A little note: thanks to everyone for so much amazing support through the last 9 months: the thoughtful advice, the friendships, sweet emails, offers of help, surprise backyard dinners, “unshower” bbqs, picnics in parks, the passing on of clothes and baby things, endless enthusiasm, love, support and laughter. This kid is so lucky to be surrounded by the most amazing group of people!