Etsy Finds Friday

Etsy Finds Friday is a speckle of random things that have caught my eye on etsy.com. Great ideas and lots of inspiration for your upcoming wedding or to add a little handmade love to your life.

photo credit go to the respective shops listed below

(From left to right)
Top: Peppermint Cloud, Chouettes, Vigilante Laboratories

Middle: Sapti, Pasaii Paperie, Mia Beads

Bottom: Chloe and Maddie, Faith and Franny, A.J. Machete and Sons Clothier

make :: paper ribbons

(found via Twig & Thistle)

I thought that this would be a cute alternative to a boutainnaire. Follow this simple tutorial to make you own paper ribbons and show your loved ones who's number 1!

london :: banking

photo credit: Frank Songbird

Money, money, money….

One of the biggest hurdles for us when we first tried to move to the UK in 2004 was banking. Oi! It's making my head hurt already. Being twenty, I guess I could have done more research at the time, but basically, I closed up my bank account in Vancouver and asked for the bank to issue me a cheque with my remaining balance. The cheque was in Canadian funds which brings us to ...

lesson # 1: If you show up to a British bank with a cheque in Canadian funds, it will be mailed back to the bank that issued it and a new cheque with the amount in British pounds will need to be sent. This could take 6 to 8 weeks. The bank failed to tell us this and we spent a lot of time wondering where our money was.

lesson #2: If possible, get an account before you leave. I strongly advise this. When I wanted to switch bank accounts in the UK, I originally was not approved due to bad credit even though I had never missed a payment nor had any debt at the time. The bank finally figured that my papers were shuffled to a random bank teller back in Canada. They may have not known what to do with it and declined it or decided not to approve it because I had closed my account with them earlier in the year.

Earlier this year, Lloyds TSB offshore made bank accounts available to those who wish to open a foreign current account, live / work overseas or even if you just travel frequently. So far, the customer service has been great - super helpful and friendly and the nice thing is that they have staff based in Vancouver and Toronto.

Other possible banks to consider are:

Barclays (This is where we originally set up our accounts on our first trip in 2002)

HSBC

If you decide to work / live abroad or just want to spend a good chunk of time traveling, having an account in place with some cash in it, will, in the long-term, make your life a lot easier. Trust me. I can't tell you enough how happy I am that this has all been taken care of. * whew *

summer garden life

I have pretty much killed every single plant that I have ever owned. When Erin gave me a beautiful orchid earlier this year, it went straight to my friend's boyfriend, aka the orchid whisperer, where it is living a happy life. Trust me. It was for the best.

This is our third year with the community garden. We have a plot over on West 16th Avenue and Oak Street. Last year was kind of a bomb. With summer wedding and event season, Rob and I seem to struggle to find enough energy to go and pick weeds and harvest our work. This year, we made a conserted effort to revive our little garden plot. Although, it's not exactly something that I would write to Canadian Gardening Magazine about, it is an improvement from the last. Check out our strawberries above and the potato plants below from earlier in the year.

summer times

Even though Fall hasn't officially arrived, it feels like it's time to kiss the warm days of sunshine goodbye. Summer went by super fast for us this year. We were expecting it to though. With a super packed schedule and knowing that it would be our last Vancouver summer for a year or two, we knew that we had to cherish as much as we could.

Yes, we did work a lot the last few months. Um.. remember July? Summer hiatus on the blog due to 8-12 hour work days for the entire month. So crazy good with an emphasis on crazy. I remember wrapping up my last day finishing up a contract and realizing "Woah, I don't have to put pants on today" - hehe.

Armed with flip flops, slushy drinks galore, we spent the last summer BBQing... becomine an aunt and uncle... gardening... getting bitten by mosquitoes... meeting new friends... road tripping... eating berries... enjoying an annual cotton candy feast...

We visited two fairs this year, the Oregon State Fair (pictured above) and the Pacific National Exhibition. Not to be a cotton candy snob or anything, but US and Canadian cotton candy seem to have a different taste. Just saying ... Oh, and that's the fair lift pictured above. For a small price, you can ride it from one end of the fair grounds to the next and back. It's a pretty length ride and yes, I did take my flip flops off. No way was I going to be the person to lose their shoes on the ride. Eek.

It's currently raining outside and I can't sleep. Looks like tomorrow will start with a nice lie in, a hot cup of coffee and maybe a bit of work. Need to get some organizing done before the zany starts again!

What do YOU have planned? Are you getting ready for the first day of school Enjoying the last of the long weekend?

happy anniversary!

photo credit: Tracey L. Heppner

It's our sixth anniversary today! It looks like we share this special day with another fine couple we know. For lucky number six, it shows that our modern symbol is wood. Maybe that means that I will finally find a wood table that matches my library catalogue!

We are off to the Farmers Market for a new market bag, some fresh garlic and tomatoes and then off to a BBQ dinner with family. Happy long weekend!

&hearts portland

Random polarized snapshots ... the last shot won me a gift certificate to Burgerville (a fast food chain based in South WA and OR committed to only using local, sustainable and fresh ingredients) - onion ring face!

Etsy Finds Friday

Etsy Finds Friday is a speckle of random things that have caught my eye on etsy.com. Great ideas and lots of inspiration for your upcoming wedding or to add a little handmade love to your life.

photo credit go to the respective shops listed below

(From left to right)
Top: Fox & Clover, Rabbit's Stop, Royal Buffet

Middle: Evelda's Neverland, Family Attic, Lily Lady Blue

Bottom: Lost & Fawned, Patkas, Kathleen Cavalaro

eating waffles

Sorry for the late post. We were busy eating dutch tacos from the Flavour Spot (yes, they include an 'u'!) food cart in Portland. I heard rave reviews about this place, so I thought that since this may be the last trip to Portland for a while, we better go and try it! Imagine a 7" crispy waffle baked to order wrapped around your favourite fillings - ham and cheese, mallow fluff and nutella, bacon and sausage, etc. You can their menu here. The one pictured above is the no.1 Sausage and Maple - sweet and savoury - 3 sausage rounds with maple syrup wrapped in a waffle. Tasty, but I think I'm going to pass on the maple syrup next time. It was a little too sweet for me.

We head back to Vancouver tomorrow, but I promise that I will post more Portland love soon.

make :: pin wheel love

(found via La Belle Bride)

I am a sucker for these pin wheel bouquets. Follow these easy steps here to add a whimsical DIY pin wheel to your decor!