Best find ever!

I cleaned my room yesterday and found...my shoe that has been missing for I'm not kidding you an entire year. I'm in love all over again (sorry, Mark). I bought them in Whistler from a fancy boutique and I got them one size up to accommodate wool socks. I was heart broken when I lost this shoe. I think losing one shoe is the worst because whenever I happened across the lonely mate, my heart broke all over again.

Love love love love love. Yeah! I won't lie, I was dancing around in my room when I found it. Woop!

Friday Favourites!

I love the NY Times. I go to their website and skip all the "breaking news" and beeline over to their Style Section and read all the wonderful articles they have going on. Since the "big recession" their style section only posts solid content once a week. Here's a selection of my recent favourites.

This wonderful Modern "vintage" house tour in Brooklyn! LINK.

wowzas, eye opening article about mormon food culture! LINK.

Recipes for the Semi-Vegan!! LINK. 

A Great Story about the "Man Bun". LINK. 

A whole house styled with shit from a dollar store. LINK.

 

Introduction: Ambassador of Awesome

Robyn is not impressed

In an effort to make Home Sweet Home 'poly-vocal' (uh herm-fancy academic speak for 'lots of people talking' duh) we want to feature interviews with people that we like doing good work in our communities. Considering that the concept of community is a fluid thing, we will be redefining 'community' as we see fit. Isn't that convenient? 

Today I'd like to introduce Robyn Ocean, our first inductee into the HSH Hall of Fame, she is an Ambassador of Awesome for these modern times. Robyn works hard every day to make change and to shape the community around her into something that represents herself and her ideas. Robyn is always trying to give the voiceless a chance to be part of the conversation, to include the perspectives of the marginalize and ostracized. She won't let anyone get away with lazy ignorance and pushes people to think differently. Robyn holds everyone accountable for the way things are (we are the problem AND the solution) and is a force that demands change from us all. Though she can sometimes be harsh, it comes from the heart because Robyn KNOWS you can do better. She is relentless and never backs down; she will call you out when you are full of shit, and her judgement will always resound with you because you know its true. When I met Robyn for the first time, I thought she was a lunatic. I was right. 

Laura: What projects are you working on right now? 

Robyn: I am part of a research project looking at what resources are available for women after they are released from jail, connecting them to peer mentors, and addressing their health needs looking at the social determinants of health. And just for fun I am collecting clothing to give to the busiest homeless shelter in PG. Also, I am always trying to get crack pipe screens to be available at the needle exchange, it's always on the back of my mind and I look for research to prove that it's an important measure of harm reduction.

Laura: Which one is the most exciting to work on? Why? 

Robyn: Incarcerated women have always inspired me and so I enjoy this project the most. It will be great to facilitate women being released to have the support of a woman that has done her time and is now as she defines it stable so that they may share stories and experiences and move forward together. 

Laura: What is your 'dream project'? 

Robyn: G-sus. So many dream projects. I would love to have a recovery house for women for after drug and alcohol treatment. I want to have a half way house in town that it totally devoted to women leaving jail and to have all the funding to do job training, skool upgrades and group counselling. I want to have more places for women to go. If I won the lottery I would build all of it. I would create safe spaces for vulnerable and strong women.

Laura: You do a lot of work with youth, why? 

Robyn: I love teenagers, they are so messy. So my last bit of work with youth was teaching sex, drugs and alcohol education in skool. I love that because they either mask what they want to ask or how they feel because ego and presentation is most immediate for them, or they are so blatantly honest it's refreshing. I love their drama, I love their passion, and I want them to know they are useful and to challenge them to express themselves in an intelligent and important way. 

woop woop Downtown P.G.

Laura:  What do you find inspiring? Challenging? Exciting? 

Robyn: Right now I find it challenging to switch into a "normal" work week and not have the flexibility my previous underemployment granted me. I find Indigenous drummers in -40 night air inspiring. I find the opportunity to meet new people and become a positive support in their lives to be exciting. 

Laura: How can we create the most social change right now?

Robyn: Stop acting and thinking out of fear and be open to new things and change. People, including myself sometimes, don't listen. They are in reactive stance, ready to say what they know, so we miss out on the knowledge and experience of others. It's out of fear that some in the North support the Enbridge pipeline. They have heard the words "jobs" and "industry" but they didn't listen to what that really means. That the jobs are temporary and the industry is foreign. It's out of fear of what "radicals" or "environmentalists" might be that they choose not to hear how the future could be for all of us if we work together.

get involved! 

Laura: If someone told you they wanted to be involved in creating change but didn't know how, what would you suggest to them? 

Robyn: I would ask them what they care about and what needs to be changed. Find your own opportunity, is what I would suggest. I would say don't wait for your government or ask them for a favour, don't try to convince your community or tell people what to do. Just do what you see best, take small steps forward and be part of something that inspires you. There is no "way" to create social change. There is all ways to do it.

Laura: What question do you wish we had asked you? 

Robyn: That's a pretty good question. q: What keeps you going? a: love from my family of support, my man, my besties, and hearing from individuals that I have inspired them or changed something in them. I love hearing that positive feedback and that is what inspires me.

Laura: Got anything else to add? 

Robyn: I love and am inspired by home sweet home- reclaiming the home space, the domestic. It was always meant to be a radical and transformative space. Thanks!

Hooplah the Ref

Thanks to Robyn for kicking ass and being an inspiration to us all. 

Have you got something to say? If you would like to be interviewed, please email us a short note to tell us why you think you are a worthy candidate to become an Ambassador of Awesome here at Home Sweet Home.  yerhomesweethome@gmail.com

Turtle Burger!

 This evening was my husband's birthday party! We had a teenage mutant ninja turtles affair and I made 6 cookie sheet sized pizzas, some with meaty and cheese, some with vegan pepperoni and daiya, etc. Stewart made these turtle burgers and a number of the people that ate them complained of "i ate too much meat!" haha. Check out our pictures of the turtle burgers and a video on how to make them!

ALL YOU NEED IS YARN

Last summer the most incredible thing happened to our tiny inlet town. Jennie moved here from Cobble Hill (to get away from all the Victoria-ites in their fancy big SUVs that didn't care about the neighbourhood) and opened Let's Knit, our valley's very own little yarn store. I love this yarn store and love Jennie to bits. I spend as much time and money there as possible and she's really re-inspired me to knit my face off. Because I love Valentine's day (not the romantic part, we dont really do it, but i love the hearts, the red and pink and the shiny things!) I asked Jennie if I could make her a window display and set about making a HUGE chocolate box full of yarn!

I made the shape for the heart box out of heavy duty tv-box cardboard. I cut out two halved and hot glued them down the middle. I also cut a 3" ledge that I hot glued down. Then we painted the outside and the ledge red, and I lined the inside with tin foil (using tape).

Then we found pink/fuschia/red yarns from the shop and I made little "bon bon wrappers" with tissue paper and held the yarn to the heart with zapstraps through to the back side. Jennie lined the back with a white sheet and we hung it in the window yesterday! so fun!

I also made a cute tattoo-inspired banner for it. Happy Vday knitting season!

Friday Faves: Larabar

Has everyone tried a Larabar yet? They are great! Having very few ingredients and lots of healthy snack/meal replacing value, the bars come in tons of flavours and are actually delicious. Of course, a bunch of cooks have duplicated the recipes for trying at home. I was going to go out and buy some but since I've got a little time and lots of dates, I think I'll try out a recipe or two. Get ready to break out your food processor and fill this week's lunches with your Larabar knock offs.

Hot Fudge Bars from Chocolate Covered Katie

Peanut Butter Bars from She {hearts} It

Chocolate Bars from Chocolate and Zucchini

This link has recipes for most flavours and a 'build your own Larabar' recipe if you scroll way way down.
I'll be trying this banana bread recipe from Oh She Glows in about 10 minutes.

WIP Wednesday!

Hello Internet Friends! It is Wednesday and I wanted to challenge myself to get things done on my bucket list. Undoubtedly you're all leading busy and inspiring lives, but you know what, being this awesome is kind of exhausting. Especially when some dishes have been on the counter for weeks (I'm not joking). So in the spirit of "what I'm working on this week" I wanted to share with you an example of a task list I make myself once in a while when I know I have a few hours at home and a gazillion things to do. It's taking a few minutes in my day to prioritize how my evening is going to run. And then challenge myself to do it. I'll post the list today and then tomorrow will update this post to let you know how it went. PS. My days are usually this busy, but tonight I'm trying to tackle on the craft project of doing my curtains for our living room. We've been in our house for over a month and I haven't done anything yet to spruce it up. I even have to finish up the paint job. I have a laundry list of things I want to do and the curtains are the easiest. I already have the sheets and just need to get paint and hooky things to hold the sheets up (there's already a curtain rail).

What kind of things do you do to keep yourself "on track" and/or accountable to your ever mounting "to do list"?

 

 Edited to Add: So, I loaded the dishwasher and turned it on and washed a few other dishes, as well as did the towels and seth's clothes. Phew! The folding took forever because Seth was using me as a jungle gym. I did the jacks/squat workout and one round of abs, then a few push ups because I threw up in my mouth and didn't want to be that much of a baby. I also cast on Stewart's sweater and went and bought (the wrong) curtain rods, sponges, and paint for my curtains. Must go to Canadian Tire on Sunday to get the right parts.

Golden Beet Cranberry Muffins

So we're doing this "diet" and workout challenge to get our bodies in better shape to derby. It's an excellent challenge and even more challenging throwing in the low-soy, vegan, no caffeine, into the mix with less carbs (more protein), no sugars, and whole grains only. I've been having a hard time of it and like to credit myself at just being conscious of all the restrictions. On the other hand, my fitness levels have quadrupled in one week and I'm achieving my fitness goals at a steady pace. I need to set more goals so that I'm always trying to achieve something and to keep me on pace. But with all the working out (about 15 hours a week?) I'm starving whenever it gets to my meals and my snacks just aren't cutting it. Hence these muffins.

They are low in protein, have some sugar in them, and have some white flour in them, but they are hearty and delicious. I downed two of them with an Emergen-C after practice and I feel full. The original recipe called for carrots and I *thought* we had carrots in the fridge, but we didn't. Instead I had this lonely bag of golden beets that had been sitting in there for about 2-3 months. In perfect condition! I peeled them up, washed them, and then grated them up and they were SO pretty up against the cranberries! (Sorry for not taking a picture) and they didn't dominate the muffins like a red beet would've. And, in these muffins, it's a lighter yet more grounded and rounded flavour. And less juicy, more meaty, than if I had used carrots. If you can't find yellow beets, use carrots (obviously) or mix it up and try parsnips or a grated hard squash. The sky's the limit.

Golden Beet Cranberry Muffins
adapted from Cooking from the Garden, page 94


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups grated golden beets
1 1/2 cups frozen whole cranberries
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1 1/4 cup Almond Milk
Egg replacer for 1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice


Directions


Ensure the oven rack is in the centre of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400F. Oil or butter a muffin tin that holds 12 muffins. Mix the beets, cranberries, brown sugar, and zest in a bowl. In a separate bowl, make your faux egg, adding the milk and oil.  Combine both wet ingredients together. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Stir until the batter is blended. Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tin. Bake until they are gold brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean (approx 20-25 minutes). Cool the muffins in the tin for 10 minutes and transfer to a bowl to serve (or individually wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for quick snacks and to curb eating the whole tin in one go).

Home Tour: Tranquil Asia

After seeing a couple of Asia's photos of her life and space I asked if she would like to do a Home Tour. She said yes almost immediately and I am so glad. I love the soft genuine touches that she has added to her space, the little antique curios, and the great calmness that I feel when I look at the images she chose to show us how her home makes her feel 'Home Sweet Home'. I'm so happy to be able to share them with you here. 

Desk Corner - This is my desk, a little place where I can do some writing, storming and sitting. The green lamp on my desk used to be my grandpas, and the photo behind it is of him in May 1957, throwing around a guitar. Hidden is an antique pencil sharper (that still works like a charm!) which is accompanied by a steaming mug full of my favorite pens, pencils & paintbrushes. 

Little Cupboard - In this photo are various little treasures I have tucked away; a crumbling horseshoe that I mailed back to Prince George from Scotland, a music box, an giant old key, a scarab beetle from Egypt, a vase full of shells and beach glass, and a little porcelain flower filled with buttons. Also, this is the perfect place to hang my towel. 

Shelf - Again, on this shelf are various little odds and ends I have accumulated; an old cigar box, a jar full of my worries and paintbrushes, an oil lamp, a miniature telescope and compass, a dried lantern flower, a stack of postcards and an incense holder. 

Noise Station - Probably my favorite thing about my room, the surround sound stereo and record station. Seriously, the musical gods often just come and hang out for the afternoon. And of course Charlie, the love of my life.

Fisherman - For a few weeks I tried to get rid of this little creature but he just kept finding himself in my room. Finally we found a place for him to hang out on the light fixture. 

Charlie on Bed - Just a nice little afternoon shot, tired dog, beautiful light and cozy bed. Ahh. 

Dresser Corner - To my delight, I recently discovered the little man faces on my dresser handles, such a treat. The suitcase was my grandpas first suitcase, the guitar was recently given to me by a friend and the embroidered photo on the wall is a (religiously neutral) version of my favorite quote. I am madly in love with perfume and essential oils so atop my dresser sits my little collection. 

Sink Corner - A wonderful little place to get ready, accompanied by one of my favorite pieces of art. 

Back of Door - Drink it in. I have been collecting bits of paper for years and I finally found a resting place for it all. This is best seen in person, there are so many details and surprising elements of this collage. 

Would you like to share images of your Home Sweet Home? Email us! 

yerhomesweethome@gmail.com

Friday Favourties: Dreaming of France!

Part of transitioning to being an adult is realizing I just can't pack up my whole life and move as readily as I used to be able to. I start wanting other things, like land, a garden, and a roller derby career! But, on rainy days I still dream of moving to France. Inspired by a recent recipe spread in the newest Martha Stewart Living I've been dreaming of visiting that part of the world that speaks to me.. class, vintage, good food, even better wines, and beautiful days, despite the weather. Here's a round up of my favourite France-inspirations!

Source: littlebrownpen.blogspot.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: europeanchicdesign.blogspot.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Source: prettystuff.tumblr.com via Rive on Pinterest

Source: designspongeonline.com via Lana on Pinterest

Source: onedayisaw.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Source: magdalenetours.com via Meghan on Pinterest

The Reluctant Housewife

A long time ago I started to write a book filled with practical stuff that worked for me to make my rural domestic life easier and more pleasant. After spending some time looking at my life, I decided that I was really good at collecting ideas but absolutely shite at following through with my ideas and making them work for me in any huge (dig myself out of poverty) kind of way. I have however, had some success using my ideas of personal and organizational fundraising since then and refer to my book notes often. If I am feeling stuck in the same old routine with my life or volunteering (for example: as the Fundraising and Sponsorship Coordinator for the Rated PG Rollergirls) I like to look back and do a little exercise to find new ideas or refresh old ideas.

First, some of my thoughts about fundraising...
I think that as people and as organizations age, grow (etc) we change so the same old ideas don't always work. With respect to our Roller Derby league here is P.G., there are fundraisers that work every time (beer garden at bouts) and those that used to work but don't anymore (bake sales). In the last couple years, we've become less dependant on small fundraisers and actually have been able to turn our bouts into our biggest fundraisers (a small miracle for most leagues). We've shifted our fundraising focus a little and are now able to spend more time training together and attending/volunteering at local community events. This mostly developed out of necessity because of our own busy schedules; lots of our rollergirls are moms and/or working professionals who have little time to spare for extra curriculars and sometimes struggle to set aside enough time for our training and practice schedule as it is.

Recently, I had a request for fundraising ideas come by email from a much loved neighbouring league. I don't really like to hand out derby fundraising ideas because it's too easy. I also think that every league is different, so what works (has worked, will work) for my league might not work (...) for yours. I've always found it way more valuable to think about the following questions and come up with ideas that suit my league, my volunteers, and my community. I would like to encourage readers to use this exercise by themselves, or in groups. I think it would be great to have 5 rollergirls in a living room brainstorming ideas, then voting on the best ideas to come up with a fundraising schedule for the upcoming season or year. In fact, I'm planning one for my committee right now. Great!

So here are the questions:
[Try to answer all of the questions before jumping ahead to developing your Fundraising ideas]

1.  Who are my allies? 
(volunteers, sponsors, friends, family...)

2. What do we want? 
(be specific! having money goals is important: we want to raise this amount of dollars by this date)

3. Who do you want it from?  (consider who your audience is. it is a great idea to have different types of fundraisers for different segments of your audience too, so don't leave anyone out because you want everyone's money, right?)

4.  What do we have?
(this is the fun part! list skills etc. of your allies, objects-like things you don't want, things you can make, and things you have that others want---the mystique of rollergirls is huge, remember...)

5. What do we like/want to do? 
(think beyond the obvious; hobbies, events you like to attend, organization goals...)


Then comes the fun part! Put your ideas together to come up with fundraising ideas.

After doing this exercise, I hope you can see that successful fundraisers have to be tailored to the organization and the people in them. Also remember that you can achieve many of your organization and personal goals by combining the answers to the above questions to make money. For example, doing a 50/50 draw at a local event raises the profile of your league, advertises your upcoming bout, AND acts as a fundraiser. Get it? Try it for yourself, you should be able to make your own great fundraising opportunities that are sure to succeed.

Oh, and lastly, I will give you the only guaranteed fundraising idea that exists, probably the most obvious and easiest fundraiser: Ask for money from someone who has some.

Good Luck and Happy Fundraising!

Mmm, Pizza with Egg

About almost a year back we had Sustain-a-table pizza night at a friend's house and they made smaller pizzas but one of them had an egg cooked into the middle. Now, this wasn't the first time I had seen this, but it was the first time I had tried it and it was DELICIOUS. So many months later I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally make it. And it was delicious. Basically, put your homemade pizza together and crack and egg in the middle on top of the cheese layer and put in the oven to bake and it should cook in about 15 minutes at a 400-425F oven (max temp/time). If you want your egg runny, lower the heat in the oven and or the time (cook your pizza on a pre-cooked shell?). Now, our oven runs hot. I should get myself an internal thermometer for it. Mmmm.

Friday Faves: DIY Calendars

I always wait until the last moment to buy/make a calendar for the new year. This means that I usually end up using scraps of paper shoved into a little book, or a hand written daytimer (never works for long!) for about a month or two until I can motivate myself to get out a proper calendar. So of course, when I get around to it, I can usually find a sale but am stuck with picking through the ones that no one else wanted. At B&Co right now, there is a sign that says: "Calendars, 50% off, 6 months for free!", except that they are probably all crappy boring. Well, maybe.
I'll be putting aside a little time this weekend to make myself a custom daytimer.
Here is an assortment of the my favorite DIY Calendars out there.

Chalkboard calendar

craft: desktop calendars from jewel cases

Pin-up photos calendar 

Upcycle used envelopes as dividers/pages

books from small boxes

Happy crafting! 

Party Time with Purl Coasters: Tutorial Version

For a quick gift that you could give anytime, try this tutorial project from 'purl bee'. I love the simplicity of it, this would make a great host gift; try making up a set for the next party you go to. I would advise you to get good wool felt to make them last longer, more fun to make, and splash resistant.

Here is my version, I bought 2 sheets of 4 colours and was able to make 2 sets of 12 coasters. That's two gifts! I traced spare container lids to get my circles. Next time I would make sure that my smaller circle was larger than the bottom of a wine glass. I used gold coloured thread after wrestling with the choice of using regular thread or metallic and am glad with my choice. The gold thread is great.