Waiting for my parents to get ready for the game, I snapped a few shots in their hotel.

So almost one year later I finally get around to making these popsicles!

They are loosely based on this recipe. I placed three different fruit (peach, mango, raspberry) with a couple tablespoons of turbinado sugar in a saucepan and stirred on low heat until the sugar melted – add enough sugar for the mixture to taste quite sweet, as it will taste less sweet when frozen. Then I used a hand blender to break up some of the bigger pieces. Alternating spoonfuls of the fruit mixture and yogourt into the popsicle molds (star-shaped!), the recipe turned out really well. I made two batches: one with lemon yogourt, and one with coconut. These are my two favorite flavours, and they both work very well with the popsicles. Delicious!

Also, I just heard about this new Zoku Quick Pop Maker from Williams Sonoma and it looks amazing. As soon as I had made my yogourt pops, I wanted to eat them straight away, which was impossible. However, this new contraption makes popsicles ready to eat in 7 minutes! So tempting!

An avid fan of the grilled cheese sandwich, I decided to experiment a little (inspired by a delicious lunch from Mangez – thanks Roz!).

This is my homemade grilled cheese with brie, grape tomatoes, and basil pesto on half/olive tapenade on the other half. Both sides = amazing!

I also had to slice it up then flip it so it looks like a heart shape (better picture here); my brother Aaron taught me this important technique. Good for any time of year, but especially Valentine’s day appropriate!

I had to hold off on posting this until I finally picked up a pillow form this weekend.
(If you’re curious, the back looks like this)

Not to be extreme or anything, but since the pillow was hand-pieced and hand-quilted, I decided the entire operation should be free of any machine work, so I hand-stitched the zipper in place, and backstitched the whole thing together, by hand.

A second pillow is almost finished too, but it might be a gift, so I haven’t decided whether or not to post it yet…we’ll see!

Missing Ottawa a bit. These are from my last trip.

And by OC I mean Ottawa Carleton.

Since Spring, I have revisited the bangle. Big time. And rings. Not to say I’ve been shopping at all (well…)

I used to wear most of these, at different times growing up, and now I wear them all together at once. It feels like a uniform, in a good way, in that it ties seemingly different outfits together.

All the rings are my mother’s, as are the bracelets, except the skinny silver one that looks twisted like rope. This was a childhood gift I was never too excited about – until now. There’s fashion for you.

Also in these pictures is a little vintage fur coin purse (herein lies the shopping) that I got in Ottawa on my last visit. The owner of the vintage shop said customers often thought the coin purse resembled an owl. What do you think? I’ve been looking for a coin purse for ages and thought this a cute find – it even has 2 compartments. And a key fob. Awesome.

Whenever I visit Ottawa, I always go out for coffee with my dad.

Bridgehead is nice if you can find a spot to sit – very popular. Personally, I always love Ideal. It’s way more relaxed.

I was almost reluctant to share this one believe it or not! Black Camel is one of my favorite neighborhood spots for lunch. This is a place I walked by for years, kept meaning to visit, and this spring it finally happened! They make delicious sandwiches, and I get the roasted vegetable with pesto mayo. I find the sandwich to be comforting in that it kind of reminds me of school lunches packed by mom – not too fancy gourmet, but still really tasty. I also quite like their hot chocolate.

Black Camel is just around the corner from this Drake General Store. And they tweet if they run out during the day.

Some close-ups from my mother’s yard. Taken on the May 2-4 Weekend.

My latte art is getting so much better you guys. I call this cloud with snow – cute right?

In other art news, I’m working on some new print portfolio material – yay grid systems! Will share a new illustration on Friday – hopefully this will be more impressive than my latte art…