it's dark

Dear friends, I've been busy! And more than that, it's been dark here. I leave my house in the dark every morning for work and I leave my office every evening in the dark. It's not that I'm a workaholic (far from it) but it's getting dark so early now. So, in lieu of beautiful, daylit photos of my new apartment, I hope you'll accept this video for now. It's my favourite song from the new-ish St. Vincent album.

A few more things: I'll be at Portobello West all weekend long with new necklaces and earrings for you to peruse if you live in the Vancouver area. Portobello West is now located at the Creekside Community Recreation Centre at the former Athlete's Village. Which is to say, formerly the 2010 Olympics Athlete's Village, not the village for former athletes.

And finally, last night Jeff and I and Lola (on the upswing, thanks for asking!) were sleeping soundly when we were awoken by what could only be described as the sound of a dump truck plowing through our apartment walls. Turning the lights on in a panic, we realized that it was nothing that bad, but that our closet bar and shelves had all pulled out of the wall and crashed down along with everything we'd just unpacked. Adventure mess! Lola believes she was nearly killed, though that's far from the truth. I think the whole thing might have a small relation to an accident that did happen on our street last night. Someone drove through a fence and knocked over a traffic light. Perhaps that impact was just enough to jolt our closet bar free of its tenuous moorings and send it crashing to what was likely its inevitable fate, overloaded as it was.

Excuse the drama. I've been stressed. We are slowly making our way through the giant mess that is created when you move from one home to another. The move has been a good one for us. Pictures soon!

moving next weekend

source

It seems like a long time ago that Jeff and I moved into the place we are living right now, but it wasn't. It's just that since we moved here we successfully retrieved all of the money our former landlord owed us (it only took ten months!), I finished my master's degree in landscape architecture and landed a new job and we got married. And yet, we've been in this former nun dormitory apartment with high ceilings and excellent built-in shelves and big windows for less than a year. It's been a busy year, full of ups and downs, but more on that another day.

For now, I'm just writing to share how excited we are to be moving into our new place. It's bigger and better and the tree-lined streets are going to be perfect for Lola. We have friends who live relatively close to our new place, including Lola's frenemy, Hazel, and we're excited to check out a whole new-to-us part of Vancouver. So wish us luck. I'll give you a tour of the new place (complete with real natural light!) as soon as I can! And I'll try to get the print that we've chosen for over the fireplace made soon so I can share that, too! Thanks for your advice on which one to pick. Have a great week, everyone!

P.S. You can read an interview with me on Caiti's blog, Life is a Canvas today. And there might be a little giveaway, too!

new apartment, new art

Did I ever mention that I spent most of the summer of 2009 in Europe? And that Jeff came with me for the first three weeks and we got engaged in Paris? I was going through some old photos today and came across a whole bunch of great shots that I want to do something with. I'm scheming about ways to use them in the new apartment and have some ideas. This one of a light shop in Amsterdam is one of our favourites and it really suits the character of our new place. I think it might have to be front and centre in our living room. Oh summer...well, winter solstice has passed so we're on the upswing now!

light at the end of the semester

the new place could use a little paint; Lola seems to like it

We have a lot going on right now, so I know that my posts and shop listings are going to be slowed a little over the next couple of weeks. We're moving, I have two big papers due (one is my thesis), and I have two jobs at the university that are keeping me busy...not to mention jewelry! So, over the next few days I'll be writing, packing, writing, packaging up Christmas orders, wrapping presents, booking a truck, packing...well, you get the idea. Having said that, there are a couple of new listings in the Sadie shop for items I had at Portobello West: raw garnet meteor and polished quartz necklaces. Welcome to everyone who has just discovered the Sadie blog and shop! I'll be back soon with a special Sadie post. Keep checking in!

Here's a little video tour of Vancouver in the meantime. Black Mountain always reminds me of a certain night next to the Elbow River in Alberta, of all things. A bonfire, a blizzard, one of my favourite nights of all time.