Who was that masked pumpkin?

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!

Happy Friday

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Whenever I need a little pick-me-up I just listen to this song. Happy Friday!

Gabriele Wilson

Ack, where did the time go?

Gorgeous book covers designed by Gabriele Wilson spotted on Truly Smitten.

Wendy Macnaughton

Design for Mankind featured this awesome artist a while back. I love looking into artists' sketchbooks and I fell in love with Wendy's work when I saw it. Her linework, handlettering, and colours are fantastic! I just love her depictions of the everyday people and scenes she encounters. Check out her blog here.

Monday Mix #17: Do a little dance

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It has been kind of drizzly here over the last little while, and as much as I love the rain I thought a little happy-dance playlist was in order for today. Hope you have a good week and get to do a few happy-dances.

MIKA

We Are Golden
Honestly, how could you not be happy listening to this song? Or pretty much any other MIKA song.

THE POLICE

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
This song makes me want to spin around in circles in a field full of flowers.

CAKE

Love You Madly
Cake can do no wrong.

KING HARVEST

Dancing in the Moonlight
I want to learn the keyboard part to this song. Whenever they play it on the radio in the mornings it is stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND

A-Punk
Ok, not a very original choice. But this song is just too awesome to not include.

Snaps from the past week

Ate some good food, saw some good art.

Apricot lemon scone from Bella Cafe on Gallery Night.

Foggy day in M-town

Whole-wheat pumpkin pancakes

Made some cookies yesterday from a modified version of
Peabody's recipe. The nutmeg gives them a nice tang.

Free shoes anyone? Men's size 12.
Saw these on my walk to the bus Friday morning.

The Apples in Stereo

I stumbled upon this new band over at Paper Mango Design while perusing the blogs. The Apples in Stereo are a band from Denver whose tunes are influenced by the Beatles. Have a listen!

Sofia and Raquel Masri

Saw the gorgeous porcelain work of Sofia and Raquel Masri on Indie Fixx. Beautiful colours, patterns, and textures. Check out daughter Sofia's etsy here and mother Raquel's etsy here and be sure to read Indie Fixx's interview with them here.

Missed Connections

These Missed Connections illustrations by Sophie Blackall are genius! Saw these on Greedy Girl the other day and I still can't get over what an awesome idea this is. Check out more of Sophie's beautiful work on her website, visit her etsy, or read her blog. For more Missed Connections check out Sophie's Missed Connections blog or read the original recipe posts here.

Yellena

Saw the incredible work of Yellena James on Fly the other day. Such mesmerizing colours, patterns, and lines! Be sure to check out her blog and her etsy shop.

Monday Mix #16: Who said you needed to buy a guitar?

It Might Get Loud playlist today. Songs featuring Jack White, Jimmy Page, and the Edge. I still cannot get over how fantastic that movie was. I wanted it to last all day and was genuinely sad when it ended. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that made me feel like that. I'm going to be listening to the White Stripes, Zep, U2, and Yardbirds all week long.

It Might Get Loud

Just got back from seeing It Might Get Loud.
It was incredible! Go see it. Right now.

Cheese and more cheese....

.....is good and more good.

Seriously, is there anything better than noodles, summer sausage, and copious amounts of cheese? Nu-uh.

Double, double toil and trouble
Fire burn and cheddar bubble

MAC N CHEESE

1 1/2 cups milk
1 bayleaf
1 chunk of onion or garlic
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 cups grated cheese, roughly*
Roughly 4 servings of noodles

Breadcrumbs and summer sausage, optional

In a small saucepan, steep milk with bayleaf and onion or garlic over low heat for 15 minutes.

While milk is steeping, boil your noodles and drain.

Using empty noodle pot, melt butter and stir flour to make a thick rue. Stir in steeped milk (minus bayleaf and onion, of course) and stir until thick sauce forms. Sprinkle in most of the cheese (setting some aside for melting on top if desired) and stir until completely melted.

Stir noodles into sauce until coated. If you want to make your mac n cheese extra delicious, dish out into oven save bowls, sprinkle with the cheese you set aside, some breadcrumbs and some diced summer sausage and broil for a few minutes until brown and bubbly.

*I used mild cheddar because it was all they had at Walgreens and it definitely wasn't as cheesy as I would like so I would bump up the cheese factor with a sharp cheddar or some other great melting cheese altogether.

I want to go to there: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

This morning I am dreaming of Albuquerque (which I can finally spell! Too little, too late. It was the answer on the Most Misspelled Sporcle Answers quiz last week. Anyways...back to my point) Yesterday, Melanie from You Are My Fave posted about her trip to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and I am now plotting how I can get to New Mexico next year.

The force is strong with this one.

Pictures here and here and here and here and here.

Best Turkey Chili I have ever made

"Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili."

- Harry James

It always interests me how many different ways there are to make and eat chili. Entire cook-offs are devoted to it and there are infinite ways in which it can be served. I like mine with diced up raw onion and melted cheese on top with a bit of cilantro. My roommate Liz likes to mush up her cornbread in it. I learned last year that a very Midwest way to serve it is with macaroni noodles (I'm not such a fan of this). How do you like to eat your chili?

BEST CHILI I HAVE EVER MADE
One of the things I love about chili is that it is so easy to customize and make with whatever you have on hand. These are just rough guidelines. Don't like turkey? Use another kind of meat. Add more or less chili powder to adjust the heat. Got some green peppers? Throw those in. So many options! **The only thing I wouldn't skip out on is the spicy tomato juice. Adds a great kick.**

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cans tomato sauce (28 ounce)
1 1/2 cups spicy tomato or vegetable juice
1 lb lean ground turkey
2 cans (15 ounce) black beans, drained
1 can (15 ounce) kidney beans
1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp chili con carne seasoning
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tbsp cumin
Pinch of allspice
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a skillet over medium and cook turkey until evenly brown. Drain.

In a slow cooker, combine tomato sauce, spicy tomato juice, chili powder, red pepper flakes, cumin and allspice. Stir until spices are evenly incorporated into liquid. Add meat, onion, and beans and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

2010 Olympic Medals

The designs for the 2010 Olympic winter games were revealed today and I am liking them for the most part. Designed by BC aboriginal artist Corrine Hunt and Vancouver designer Omer Arbel, the image on each medal is a cropping of a master image featuring an orca and a raven. I love the idea of the cropping being different on each medal so that each is truly one of a kind.

The only thing I am still not totally sold on is the wavy pattern. While I like the idea behind it (it represents the waves, mountains, and drifting snow), I still feel like it kind of looks like they kind of screwed up making one and decided to run with it.

119 days!

It's science

I've seen these old German biology charts pop up every now and then on the blogs. Aren't they cool?

Tales from Outer Suburbia

My Amazon order came the other day and in the package was this latest book from my favourite illustrator, Shaun Tan. It's incredible!

Wolf

Quick illustration for a poem project in my book illustration class. Had a lot of fun playing with media and manipulating imagery digitally with this one. The poem is Wolf by Barbara Juster Esbensen.