Aspire to everything Inspired

Hip Hip Hurray! it's Friday!

Hi you!

Thanks for stopping by - especially on this gorgeous Friday, when you could be doing other fabulous things like...  perhaps exploring your very own magic castle, enjoying a never-ending supply of fresh chocolate-chip cookies and fizzy lemonade, or picnicking with eclairs at the Eiffel Tower -- all with your own bouquet of red balloons, of course!  I mean really there are just soooo many things to be doing today!!

And since The Friday Club is all about celebrating TODAY! and giving GREAT STUFF! away...  why, of course you'll leave a comment won't you??  Oh pretty please with an eclair on top!  Leave a comment telling us your favorite Friday adventure -- real or imagined!  And as our very own Thank You! we'll drop your brand new Friday Club Membership Card and a sweet little handmade surprise in the mail just for YOU!  How awesome is that??  Well, it's Friday-awesome, of course!  HIP HIP HURRAY for Surprises!  HIP HIP HURRAY for eclairs!

And HIP HIP HURRAY for YOU too!

Happy Friday!

Penguins in sweaters??

So an oil spill in the ocean is no laughing matter.  Particularly the devastating effect all that toxic petroleum has on ecosystems and wildlife.  But even in such a catastrophe, there are little things that make us smile.  Like... penguins in sweaters!

No, the little guys didn't pick up these natty threads at the local Brooks Brothers.  It's the work of concerned knitters worldwide who are responding to a request from wildlife care agencies.  Because penguins like to preen (i.e., clean their feathers with their beak), but once said feathers have been coated with petroleum... preening would lead to ingesting oil, which is toxic.  But how do you explain that to a penguin?  Plus, the insulating value of their feathers has been compromised by all that oil and whatever cleaning the wildlife care folks have been able to do.  All in all, the penguins wouldn't have a good chance of survival, even after rescue workers have done their best to clean them up.

Hence the sweaters.

Plus, these sweaters are stylin'!  You can't help but wonder what the penguins actually think of each other in the sweaters though...

Read all about penguin sweaters on MSNBC:  here.

The view from over here, No. 19

LOVED reading this book. Well written and interesting.  Clever plot - really, very clever.  Totally likeable characters.  And very well written.  Which is worth saying twice because it's translated from the original German version, and you know, English and German syntax & grammar rules are vastly different!  (So - Wow - that's a very good translator too!)

I picked it up at Indigo Books in Toronto, but if that's not local for you, you can check it out here.

Highly recommended, friends.

The only drawback to discovering an "International Bestseller" first written in another language?  Us non-German readers will have to wait for the translation of the sequels.  Book 2, Sapphire Blue, is due out next June.  Auuuggh!

The view from over here, No. 18

I've re-arranged the pens again. 

No longer in pretty jars on the counter.  It was just looking too... cluttered.  Now they're in the rotating caddy.  Though, from this photo, you'd think that is pretty cluttered too.  But trust me on this one, friends - the visual impact in real life is less cluttered than all those pretty jars.

Still.  We'll see how long this lasts.

Probably right up until someone short comes to visit and grabs a handful of pretty markers, don't you think?

We interrupt your reading to make a Very Important Announcement!

Get your exclamation points and best Friday hats ready, friends, because...
It's baaaaa...aaack!

Announcing...  the return of The Friday Club

Only here.  On random Fridays.  Go on.  Get excited.  Let the fun and merriment ensue!

Now back to what you were doing.

The view from over here, No. 17

See?

Totally addicting.  Did I mention that Sherlock Holmes' magnifying glass is real??

Dear S.

Maybe you should not show these to J.  That might lead to trouble.

Love,
C.

The view from over here, No. 16

Have you seen these little packages of Lego guys?

1 mystery package = 1 surprise Lego person

It's the latest obsession around here.  The viking, the boxer, Cleopatra, the lumberjack,Sherlock Holmes, the monkey trainer, the clown, the gangster, the gladiator... So many possibilities.

It's all my sister Karen's fault.  She started it.

$2.95 a package.  At your local Wal*mart, or Target, or convenience store.  Just in case you need one or two or ten.

But watch out.  It's sort of... addicting...

tee-hee-hee!  Did you notice how this photo sort of looks like the two guys ganged up on the one in the package?  All appearance of 'violent dismemberment' are totally unintentional.  Seriously.

field trip report: the Paper Place

My last morning in Toronto, I snuck away for a brief hour to visit a shop I'd read about via Send More Mail...

It may not have been so shiny on the outside (hey! it was a rainy day!), but inside... Inside.  Oh my!  It's just the sort of shop we like to explore the bestest...

And maybe, just possibly, I picked up a few Must Have treasures.  Maybe.  Possibly.

But here's the part where I tell you that I always have a state of 'sticker shock' when I visit Canada.  How can things be so much more expensive, when our currencies are exchanging so closely?!?  I always wonder about that.  And worry about that. 

So let's just say that I tried to do my part to help the local economy.

The view from over here, No. 15

Pretty to look at.  Pretty to smell.

A sweet Birthday package, from my darling cousin A, arrived just in time for a little Bon Voyage before I left for Canada.  What a sweet surprise!

Many thanks, A.  I love the surprises from all over -- it's almost as good as being along on your last family trip to France & Morocco!  This package was just so you... and so me too.

And P.S., what does one use Rose Sugar for?  I'm envisioning decorating cupcakes or cookies, but will I be missing out on something even better?  Ideas??

La Moutarde Verte

Green Mustard

GREEN mustard?!

Yes.  Yes, indeed.  I found this beauty at a specialty food shop in Toronto.  The bright green color comes from the three herbs mixed in -- including basil.  Doesn't that sound intuhresting?

That's what I thought too.

Sadly, I didn't pack very wisely.  The 10 tiny bottles of maple syrup were carefully wrapped, double-bagged, and tucked between clothes in my checked bag.  The mustard?  I rolled this one up in tissue and stuck it in my carry-on bag. 

My carry-on bag?

Yep.

It didn't make it through Security.  Rats.  So maybe next time one of us picks out a fancy green mustard in a specialty food shop, we can sample it and discuss how it actually tastes...  {sigh}