lemlem

i happened upon lemlem in the blog world. it is a fashion label coveted by many.  lemlem was started by liya kebede, a model, to preserve the art of weaving in her native country of ethiopia and in the process help the weavers thrive.  just look at some of pieces from her collection - i had a hard time choosing which images to showcase so you must take a peek for yourself here.

pieces from the lemlem collection would be perfect for my upcoming mexico trip, don't you think?  my favourites are the scarves - i am going to save up for one although, really, i want one of the bags too! 

 

  

and such adorable children's clothing too!

 

a wonderful response

when kai turned 8 he sent a letter/drawing to unicef with his birthday donation - i posted about it here. using coloured pencils he wrote what he wanted his birthday money to be used for.  i wanted him to do this for two reasons.  firstly, to reinforce the reason for the give.  secondly, i knew receiving letters/drawings from young donors would put a smile on the faces of the very hard working staff of charities.

i was elated when (finally!) kai recently received a wonderful response from unicef.  i had hoped they would send him a thank you letter; it is a great affirmation of the good he can do.  and, to provide him a better understanding of the world around us and how fortunate we are to have all we do.

 

my hope?  that he will never stop giving and it carries over to other parts of his life.

i covet...

i have always been a fan of the tufted sofa.  i recently bought an armchair version - on sale at ikea for $99 (original price was $499)!  i couldn't pass up the opportunity as i have been waiting a long time to replace the wicker chairs currently in the living room.  i am loving its tufted pillows.  and it helps that it's super comfy - it's become by new reading nook.  sometimes kai worms his way onto to 'my' chair while i am in it but it's perfectly roomy for the two of us.

meet karlstaad:

by the way, i was fortunate to find the chair at that crazy price because our local ikea is closing its doors and opening a brand new bigger one (just a stone's throw away) on april 25th!

what do you think of the tufted sofa?  a classic, yes?



love this colour!





perfection.  swoon.



weekend pics

it was a food feast this weekend!

stefan and i went to an edible bc  market dinner on granville island (they do lots of other foodie events too). we devoured a 5 course seasonally inspired meal made for us by chef jeff van geest. we are groupies of this chef! we ate at his vancouver restaurant, aurora bistro, and when it closed down we followed him over to diva at the met; eating there more frequently than we would otherwise have. he is now based in the okanagan working at miradoro - can you guess what we are doing this summer? 

back to the food, it was very mediterranean. my favourites were the beet salad (ricotta, hazelnut, and balsamic vinegar) and the pasta dish was simply and beautifully done with garlic, rapini, chilies, and sausage. each course was delivered with a glass of wine (or two if you desired). we aren't the only groupies, in this weeks weekender andrew morrison, a local food writer, writes "...do your part for vancouver and plead with him to come home." 

rhubarb and panna cotta dessert

we went to the winter market at nat bailey stadium and stocked up on baked goods (most eaten before we got home) and happy healthy animals. i love this market, such a great place to stroll, taste, and chat with farmers/artisans. we went today because pure bread bakery was going to be there. they make the best rosemary and sea salt chocolate cookie! located in whistler, i appreciate that they share their baking delights with us vancouverites. well worth the line-up!!!

with our bounty, stefan roasted the chicken, mashed up some potatoes (mine and kai's favourite), and grilled asparagus! delicious.

 

 

we finally attended family fuse at the art gallery of vancouver (i have been wanting to go to one of these for awhile).  the gallery becomes very child-friendly with workshops and musicians. we listened to and partook in creating some hip hop music, we sketched, and we dabbled in abstract art!  the focus was on the gallery's aboriginal art exhibition.  one of our favourite exhibits was from brian jungen; he recreates traditional indian ceremonial masks using nike air jordon shoes - it was actually quite mesmerizing. 

"in the park when it's sunny

the cat and dog saw a bunny

they sat around listening to rock music

the dogs on guitar playing the acoustic"

our abstract art piece

a graffiti board where kids were encouraged to 'tag' their name

a sample of brain jungen's work turning expensive runners into art!

scenes around the house:

watching harry potter

taking a snooze with kai and stefan - i guess harry potter didn't keep his attention!

 

kai has been a writing machine lately, even inventing his own alphabet

photographing flowers is one of my all-time favourite things to do!

a donut, any way

i am not very savvy with social media but this illustration made me smile.

found here

have a lovely weekend!

nigella and gwyneth

i take pleasure in thumbing through stefan's cookbooks from time to time.  some people think that a cookbook is just a collection of recipes for dishes.  not me, i read them like a novel.  they are especially appealing when the author writes a chatty introduction giving a little glimpse of their lives and what inspired them to cook.  i love it when the recipes are preceded by a description of what stirred them to create the dish; their passion for cooking jumping of the page.  if there are full colour photos to drool over and gorgeous descriptions of the food, all the better.  and you can even be transported away to another country by simply reading a really good mexican or portuguese cookbook, for example.

have you ever considered reading a cookbook with no intention of finding a recipe to cook?  try it, read beyond the list of ingredients and instructions and see what you find.

i am secretly coveting gwyneth paltrow's cookbook (and it's not to learn how to roast a chicken or bake a cake).  i hear it makes a good read.

yesterday, you would have found me curled up on our new armchair (aka, my new reading nook) reading through one of nigella's cookbooks.