Trunk Show at TWB Co.

Last weekend I zoomed out to Rosseau for a Trunk Show hosted by Teeny Weeny Bikini Co.  Had the greatest time!  The shop is the cutest ever!  I loved chatting with owner and talented swimwear designer Ashley and discovering how much we have in common.  The family was super lovely and kind enough to have me stay, so not only did we have fun selling jewellery, I also got to have a little getaway!  Such a nice treat!

Pretty sweet spot for a trunk show, no?

Confection Bracelets on display in the shop.

We rock bunny ears!

Morning on the deck with art mags and tea.  Pretty perfect scenario.

Day two!  TWB Co. is like a treasure trove.  Every time I walked around, I found something new to look at.  Lots of great clothes and of course Ashley's swimwear interspersed with oodles of accessories (including MoonRox) and amazing vintage finds.

Loved the family cottage that is over 100 years old!  Thanks to the Eady family for having me!

And that's all folks!

Teeny Weeny Bikini Co.
5 Rice Street
Rosseau, ON
info(at)teenyweenybikinico(dot)com

Olympics Opening Ceremony is in a few hours.  You going to watch it?  Excited the weekend is near!  Have a great one!  

Food obsessions

The latest foods that I have been obsessed with making have been candied almonds and kale in all forms - sautéed with garlic, mingled with lemony pasta and of course in salads.  Thought I'd share a couple simple recipes that involve very little difficultly and a lot of winging it.  The measurements listed are definitely approximate!

Candied Almonds

2 cups almonds

1/4 cup white sugar

Dash or two of cinnamon

1 Tbsp cold water

Pinch of fleur de sel

Give the almonds a quick rinse in cold water to moisten the nuts.  In a pan or pot, stir cinnamon into sugar.  Add 1 Tbsp water.  Heat on medium low heat in a small saucepan until mostly liquified.  I like to keep some of the graininess of the sugar.  Add nuts and stir until coated.  Remove from stove top and pour onto baking sheet - see photo above.  Sprinkle with fleur de sel and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.  Check to make sure nuts are not burning and stir occasionally.  When moisture is gone, you are done!  Allow to cool and nibble away!  

Kale Salad with Toasted Almonds, Dried Cranberries and Parmigiano Reggiano

Bunch of kale (maybe 8-10 leaves to serve 4)

Extra virgin olive oil

Juice of about half a lemon

Pinch of sea salt

1 tsp honey

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup almonds, toasted and crushed

Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved

Dried cranberries (missing from photo)

Remove stalks from kale and cut leaves into bite size pieces.  In a large bowl, drizzle kale with olive oil and half of the lemon juice.  Add some salt.  Stir/toss/massage until greens are coated.  Let kale sit for a few minutes, tossing occasionally.  In the meantime, whisk together the remaining lemon juice with the honey, pepper and more olive oil.  Adjust proportions to taste.  Add this dressing to kale and toss.  Sprinkle some toasted almonds, some dried cranberries and some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.  And chomp chomp chomp!  Instant healthy boost!  Though maybe not so much when I pair it with fried chicken...

Summer in the city

Much of this Summer so far has been spent shuttling up and down town to work at my temporary studio. With so many long days it was nice to enjoy the bike commute.  I was sad to miss the nice days.  Love the heat and warm sunny days, but I did sneak in a couple breaks while desperately waiting for paint to dry. Here are some photos from around town recently.

TOAE 2012

This post like the previous one and the ones to come are well overdue.  Visited the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition a few weeks back.  I had a quick hour to case the joint and check out as much as I could.  Here is some of what I saw. 

by Amanda McCavour

 by Jacob Rolfe

by Carmen Schroeder

by Julie Moon

by Leanne Lang

by Keita Morimoto

Then I returned to sweatin' it in the shop after my brief jaunt around Nathan Phillips Square.  Always a nice show to visit!

Montreal

I have some major catching up to do here on the blog.  Things have been m-m-m-manic! I have just uploaded heaps of pics from the past couple months.  Finally delivered the last of the pieces from my side project and I declare that regular life is to resume immediately! I have some new work rolling out soon and will share that here in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I have a lot of blogging to do!

These are some highlights from our trip to Montreal.  Funny to look at these pictures... almost a month has passed during which time I have been completely absorbed in work.  The trip is all a fog in my mind and has almost been wiped from my memory.  Thank goodness for pictures.