weekend worship

Saturday was altogether awesome: supermoon, laser tag, pizza and ice cream cake and cupcake birthday party for my friend Becky, and a great thrift store run. I had no idea what to expect at laser tag. I though we would be running around in a dark warehouse with little kids and that I would be the worst at it. Well, that's pretty much what it was, except add in the fact that it's totally awesome, too. The space that you play in was pretty much a huge maze, with windows and walls, ramps, and lookout points.

Game one I did awful. I didn't even know how to shoot people and was getting hit from every freakin' direction. Had it not been for the brief stalking that I did of my friend Mark I may have finished with negative points. Garme two required a change of strategy. I teamed up with Jeff (that's him on the skateboard) and we started at a highpoint where we just picked off huge groups of people for maybe five minutes. At one point we noticed there were about 20 lasers scanning our area looking for us. We were unpopular but also shooting everyone!

We executed a pretty awesome raid (which failed, but was fun anyway) and I repeatedly hit a guy who later turned out to be at the same party as us, which was a bit awkward because I was sort of driving him crazy, I think. Anyway, you can see from the scoreboard below that I came in second overall. That's me, N. Scratt, a variation on my bowling name. Jeff is Dr. Dude. He had 3% accuracy, that might have been part of his problem. What a fun way to celebrate my friend Becky's birthday! I'm so glad she organized this for everyone!

On our way home Jeff and I stopped at a thrift store that we hadn't been to in years, like, maybe since the last time we lived in Vancouver 2002. We remembered the basement box land full of messed up junk and saw a sign that pointed us in the direction of the "bargain nook" or something to that extent. Downstairs we encountered the same scene we'd been faced with so many years ago: crazy people digging through even crazier stuff. We happened to be down there when a new load of boxes was added to the pile. Jeff said he saw a woman find a knife that she liked and start digging through everything with the knife! Woah! We scored some great stuff, which I'll share in a later post. Until then, I'll let this snowy owl magnet give you an idea of both the randomness and the awesomeness the brave will find in the bargain nook. See that horse bridle sitting on top of the pile? I'm pretty sure that went to a steampunk in a tophat.

Other things:

Destroyer - what an amazing show, go if they're coming to your town!

This Joan Didion Essay On Self-Respect (perfect Sunday reading)

A beautiful bracelet benefitting Japan's animals by Upper Metal Class

weekend worship: fort langley adventures

Weekends like this one start to make me feel human again after a cold, rainy winter and living and breathing school for so long. Jeff and I drove out to the Fraser Valley this afternoon and went to the Fort Langley Antique Mall. The last time we were out there was with our very good friend Marigold. We spent hours out there with her that day, and I got an amazing photo for Jeff's birthday, but that was almost a year ago. Today we decided it was time to go back.

How beautiful is this part of the world? It's all river, mountain, ocean, and forest. I love it here and these early (in Canadian terms) spring days make all the overcast days seem so worth it. Below are a whole bunch of images of some of the treasures we found. We left empty handed but had ice cream before heading home. It was such a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Oh, and if they still made the type of film that the KODAK Pony 828 camera requires I would have bought it in a second. It looked like it had a lot of potential, but, alas, 828 film is difficult to find. I've discovered that you can use 35mm film if you make some modifications but I need to do more research before going for it. I like to use my vintage cameras a lot and would love to add that one to the collection. I might stay on the lookout for the Pony 135, which would be a lot easier to find film for. Click on the photos to find out more on flickr. 

Oh yes! I'm going to host a giveaway here when I hit 150 followers, so look for that to happen soon, I hope! Have a lovely Sunday! It's my last day of vacation and I plan to celebrate with sleeping in, homework, and a guilty pleasure movie with friends!

weekend worship: rabid raccoons and six-headed cats

My parents were in town this weekend and they stayed at a beautiful historic hotel across the street from English Bay. It rained through most of their visit, but luckily Sunday was gorgeous and we were able to get out for a little walk in Stanley Park, one of the best places to appreciate everything we have here in Vancouver. Which apparently includes a large population of rabid raccoons. In fact, my parents stayed on the third floor in the Sylvia and had raccoons outside their window every night except the one that I was there waiting to see them. Darn!

Not to upset Canadians living elsewhere or anything (just think of your cheap rent!) but yes, these pictures were taken at the end of January. You've gotta love it here. Flowers are popping up everywhere and spring is in the air...not to mention the fact that the sun has been making occasional appearances, too.

Below is a six-headed cat ring that I scored with my mom at a thrift store this weekend. It's sterling, too. Don't worry, I got a pretty good price. More apartment pictures to come tomorrow. 

recycled jewelry

I've been making these necklaces lately out of thrift store finds and vintage pendants and chains. Inspired by a crazy necklace that my friend Camilla was wearing when she came for a visit from Montreal, I've been collecting a variety of interesting chains to use on these super long necklaces (about 36"). Pendants are made up of upcycled earrings, necklace pendants and beads and vintage pieces that I've found on sites like Etsy. Camilla's necklace had so much stuff on it that it maxed out the chain. I like to think of these ones as works-in-progress. If you found another awesome thing you could easily add it. Click on any of the photos to learn more about the pieces on Flickr.

thrift finds

psychedelic furs