a day in my life: graduation edition!

I have to share this day because it was so awesome. The morning was rainy and cold and we spent it eating at Thomas Haas and doing some shopping in Kitsilano. Then the clouds parted, the sun came out, and we graduated! I love the photo of some of my classmates and I...look how happy we all are! And the last little montage shows one of the better photos of Jeff and I that I've got and a photo of me, my degree, and a raccoon we found running through the forest. Yup. It was a beautiful day in every way. And check it out, I'm not wearing sunglasses in any of these photos!

The end (of a long education journey). Thanks for sharing all of the stress, excitement, and success with me.

a day in the life of beca from tales of a tumbleweed

This week's day in the life post is an awesome one. From San Diego, California, Beca's day looks a lot like I wish mine were: coffee, swap meets, dogs, and the one thing I'm always missing: t-shirt weather! Yup, it seems there are very few weeks of summery weather here in Vancouver...who knew? Beca is one of the founding members of our little online book club (announced last week) and she'll be picking the next book. Now, on to her day!

It's 8:00 in the morning. We slept in today. It feels good to sleep past 6. We both have the day off today, a rarity. We usually get up around 5:30 on work days, so any time we get to stay in bed is cherished. This isn't my typical day, since I work 9+ hours, six days a week as the head pastry chef in a bakery, so it would just be photos of cake, dyed fingers, and stacks of recipe cards. 

On this morning, we slowly pull ourselves out of bed and head to LeStats, a strange little coffee shop down the street. The coffee is good and hot. They also have the best jalapeño bagels.

After coffee, Doug and I get into our van, turn up the music and drive west to Kobey's Swap Meet with the windows down. It is our favorite early morning adventure. It's Friday, so the swap meet is mellow and full of treasure.

We class it up for lunch and get the best chicken sandwiches in town - Chic-fil-A, a weekend favorite that just happens to be in the parking lot of the swap meet. Perfect. A woman walks around and asks if we want mints or hand wipes. Like I said, class.

On the way home, we swing by the Florist Supply Warehouse. Doug gets a lacquer spray finish he needs for the sunglasses we've been making, and I see if they have anything I may need for the bakery. I swoon over the isles of brightly colored ribbons and shelves of moss. 

We get home and play with the dogs in the yard with their favorite toy - bubbles! We run around for a while before I get to work packaging up treasures for our etsy shop to ship out. I make a quick trip to my post office, run into at the bakery to check on how their day went, and then find myself at Target. Target is definitely one of my vices. I could spend days in Target, if only they would let me and my brood just move in! I ration my trips there so I don't put us in the poor house, but it's nice to wander around for a while and get everything on my list.

I come home and make a huge batch of spaghetti and meatballs with homemade tomato herb sauce and toast. Comfort food. We spend the rest of our night working on little projects, watching TV, drinking more coffee and snuggling puppies. It's been a good day. They're all good days!   

xo,

Bec

Thank you, Beca! I like that your day includes Target...we also don't have that in Canada! Be sure to check out Beca's stellar Etsy shop and her blog, Tales of a Tumbleweed, too! Next week's day in the life post will be by me, because I have an exciting day to share! It is also going to be the last post in the series for a while because I need to recruit some new participants for later this summer. Have a great week everyone and thanks again, Beca!

a day in the life of hwasoon from morning calm

Quiet room,

silence,

which I am familiar with.

After a recent fast, my daily life have changed a bit slow and calm.

The actual physical pause that brought me clearer feelings and a clearler mind.

Waking up before sunrise, starting my day with a cool and soft breeaze.

I do more work with my hands - simple cooking, cleaning and writing.

Moving my body - walks around a small mountain near my apartment.

More focused on Yoga and meditation.

Morning Calm.

Soaps and balms that I basically use for my body. I like to go simple,

using things around me here, yet still beautiful and powerful.

With the idea of harmony between you and I, we and this earth.

Soils, grains, flowers, tea leaves and Asian medical herbs.

I'd love to share them all.

I decided to just let this beautiful post introduce itself. I'm sure many of you know that Hwasoon makes the most beautiful soaps and lip balms under the name Morning Calm. It is so lovely to get a glimpse into her daily life and the process of making her amazing products. I love being able to share a day in the life of someone who lives on the other side of the Pacific. Be sure to visit her blog and shop. Thank you so much for sharing, Hwasoon. This is such a perfect post for a holiday Monday. Next week we'll be sharing a day in the life of Beca from Tales of a Tumbleweed. You can see the archive of other day in the life posts here. Have a great week, everyone!

a day in the life of jihee from the soaktree

I loved looking through the photos and reading about Jihee's day when she sent me her Day in the Life post. Denver really reminds me of my adopted hometown of Calgary, Alberta. High in the Rockies, small town stuff with a tightly clustered downtown core...we even have the same trains in Calgary! I hope you guys enjoy getting a glimpse into Jihee's day, too. Let's take a look...

With school being finally over, I start my days around 10:00am instead of the usual 7:00am. I am not a morning person so I make sure to grab a giant cup of coffee and head for the train station. 

I always ride the same train everyday to get to the heart of Downtown Denver. 

I meet up with my best friend Michelle who lives downtown to start our adventures for the day. Lately we've been getting some horrible rain and snow (yes in May) and today was the first day the sun was shining! 

We always go to our favorite restaurant together to eat and to hang out called The Lobby. They have the best stuffed burgers and the best brunch ever. Today, they had a mouth watering fish taco special that was to-die-for. I always know it's going to be delicious because Michelle's boyfriend, Nate, is the executive chef there and he always treats us with off the menu goodies ;)

We head over to Little Man's Icecream. They are completely hard to miss - shaped like a giant milk jug haha. I wait all year for one thing, their mexican chocolate icecream on a waffle cone. I don't like the summer and love winter, but for their icecream, I could welcome summer all year round.

Next, we're off to the Highlands. Filled with vintage shops, boutiques, beautiful cafes, and amazing restaurants. It's nice walking around and soaking up the "small town feeling" you get when you're here. It almost feels like you're in another state because the Highlands are tucked away in the midst of the big city. It's such a treasure when you find it amongst the busy city streets. 

In the Highlands is a bookstore filled with vintage finds and classics. They carry these beautiful poetry journals that are issued every month, poetry submitted by locals. They have the best collection of vintage books as well as vintage local photography which have been turned into postcards. 

I absolutely love flipping through their collection of old magazines all day. 

Love getting lost in the millions of books. I usually try in any bookstore to limit myself one book at a time. It kills me to choose just one but I somehow manage. This time I bought a Stephen King book to add to my collection. If I could, I would spend my entire paycheck on books (and shoes). I would live here if they'd let me.

And NO day would be complete without meeting a group of friends and going to a Rockies game. One of my absolute favorite things to do in the summer is going to baseball games. Hot dogs, cold beer, pretzels, peanuts, nachos, oh and the game.... I swear I don't go just for the food hahaha. 

My nights end with me heading back to the train station again. Tonight, the train was  jam-packed with Rockies fans. I love the long train rides home after a long day. Time for me to put my headphones on and blast my music as the train speeds past the night traffic. 



Thanks so much for sharing, Jihee! For everyone who (like me) is waiting impatiently for summer to arrive, I'm sure that checking out Jihee's amazing knitwear in her Etsy shop will make you feel a lot better about these cold temperatures. If you're lucky enough to be feeling the summer heat, her earrings are the perfect accessory for beach bonfires. I also completely identify with wanting to live in a bookstore. In the next few days I'll be posting about an awesome reading-related project that's getting started this spring. Next week's Day in the Life post is not 100% confirmed, but I am very excited about the post that I hope to share then. I'll announce it when it's for sure. In the meantime, be sure to visit Jihee's lovely blog and shop today! Thanks so much for sharing, Jihee!

a day in the life of carla from starry eyed charlie

Today's guest post in the Day in the Life series is by Carla from Starry Eyed Charlie. If you haven't already visited her super inspirational blog, be sure to check it out. Now let's get right to her Lola and George photoshoot day...

I wake up every day at 7 A.M. Get the kids ready for school, feed them breakfast and make lunches.

By 8 A.M. they are out the door. I give myself a few moments to meditate, then tweet, facebook, read/comment on blogs and have a cup of coffee.

At 9, I leave for the gym (this might not happen every day...hehe).

10:15 run home and quickly wash the funk off my body.

At 10:30, Brandi and Mimi arrive to start makeup and hair for the first model.

While this is going on, I work a bit online and tidy up my house.

When Brandi is ready for shooting, we drive to the photographer's studio.

During this time, my only job is to hand pieces to the photographer and model. It's a nice time to take a breather.

About ten minutes into the shoot, Jaime (model number 2) arrives ready for hair and makeup.

This happens until all of the models are shot and pictures uploaded for revision.

By 2 p.m., I run home, throw a load of laundry in the washer, pet my dog Jorj and finally eat lunch.

My kids go to different schools so from 3-4 I schelp around town and wait in carpool lines.

Usually we stop by our restaurant, Due Forni, to visit Alex, my husband.

When we get home, the kids get their snack on, and gear up for bike riding. I sit in the sun and contemplate new fonts for the website.

Little man likes to take pictures of me.

And today, I have time to write down what I am grateful for (a practice I wish I were better at doing).

When we go in, there's homework, dinner and bath time.

My kids chronicle my exhausted expression during this grueling hour:)

If go to sleep on time, I watch t.v. online, drink a glass of wine and maybe make a new piece of jewelry for Fall/Winter 2011.

At around 10, I blog for 30-45 minutes.

When Alex arrives, we talk until midnight and go.to.sleep.

Ahhhh.

And this is a day 

in 

my 

life:)

Love,

C

Be sure to check out Carla's blog and amazing shop. Thank you so much for sharing, Carla! Next week's guest post will feature the lovely Lauren from Letters, She Wrote. Be sure to check back!

a day in the life of gale from wichser studio

Welcome to another day in the life post. Have I mentioned lately that I love this series? Let's think way back to Danielle's guest post way back at the beginning. It's just been week after week of inspiration and beautiful photos since then. I can't thank all of the contributors enough and I am definitely going to keep this going if I can! I hope that you've all been enjoying it, too. 


This week's post is brought to you by Gale from Wichser Studio. I found Gale's jewelry designs when we were both featured together on Jillian's blog. I loved Gale's jewelry and was so excited to be featured alongside her. Let's take a peek at a fun day in this talented lady's life...

This day marks the beginning of "warm weather mentality" for Jeff and I -- we've officially packed those winter blues away! Music is something we both can't live without, so our springs and summers are spent at concerts and outdoor music fests whenever possible.  We saw one of our favorites The Slackers, at Asbury Lanes. This was our first concert of the season!

What I love most about Asbury Lanes is that it's a functioning vintage 60's bowling alley. Throughout the concert, people bowled on the remaining side lanes, while the middle lanes were used for center stage. This place was easy going and seriously a ton of fun in all its retro quirkiness. They had pop art on the wall, colorful pillows and lounge chairs, Christmas lights, and my favorite -- a full bar! ;) 

It was a such a free-spirited night with awesome music from The Slackers and another band, Hub City Stompers from New Jersey, who were great as well! We drank, danced, had Irish Car Bombs, and Jeff even got right on stage to shoot some photos! After a very long winter and our last summer spent preparing for our wedding, we plan on making up for lost time with more concerts this season for sure.

Aren't these photos beautiful? They were taken by Gale's talented husband, Jeff, whose photography I always admire whenever it appears on Gale's blog. Thank you so much for sharing, Gale! Be sure to check out the Wichser Studio blog and shop. They're both at the top of my favourites list.


In other news...my final studio presentation in landscape architecture is Wednesday afternoon, so wish me luck. I can't believe that this day has finally come. It's been three insane years in this program and I have so many mixed feelings about it all coming to an end. I am definitely looking forward to getting more time to work on jewelry and so many other creative pursuits that have been put on the back burner lately. Thanks to everyone for all of the words of encouragement and great comments and beautiful guest posts. You've all made this month of sitting at my studio desk and working away so much more exciting. Thank you.


Next week's day in the life post will feature the amazing Carla from Lola and George and Starry Eyed Charlie. Another post you definitely do not want to miss. See you on the flip side of this crazy presentation day, everyone!