Following yesterday's ridiculous hotness, Adam suggested that we have a picnic in the Public Gardens today. We took some samosas, fiddleheads, rice and fruit downtown and lay on my recently-unearthed picnic blanket in the sunshine. Then we went to Dio Mio for some trendy douple-scoop frozen desserts ensconced in waffle cone - he had Cappuccino and Chocolate & Vanilla gelato, I had Green Tea gelato with Pear & Cardamom sorbetto.

Life is tasty.

Let's all wave to Mark in Scottishland!

Just opted myself out of the Canadian Marketing Association's mailing lists.

Link

I'll let you know if it actually cuts down on my junk mail.

I'm also considering this

Love in my tummy

Nothing says "FINALLY, winter's OVER!" like the lowly fiddlehead (photo from New Brunswick Tourism). Yes, they look like alien appendages but they're SO delicious and made even more so by the fact that they're only available for a few weeks out of the year - after that they turn into full-grown ferns and are no longer tender and delectable.

I developed a taste for these suckers when I was a wee little tot living in backwoods New Brunswick and they grew all around my home. Now I gleefully shell out $5 a pound and patiently stand at the sink rinsing off the weird brown stuff for the privilege of eating wild green stuff at the end of a winter full of squash and potatoes.

If you live in Atlantic Canada and have never tried them, I command you to get thyself to a farmers' market (the ones at the grocery store just DON'T COMPARE) and pick some up. They don't need any fancy seasonings - just steam them and add some olive oil, lemon juice and salt to let the flavours shine through. They're good on linguini (that's my plan for tomorrow's supper) or served alongside a light entree, but for the purist (or anyone, really) nothing beats a big plate of lightly-seasoned fiddleheads at the beginning of the season. They're a feast in their own right and will proudly stand alone in all their alien-appendage-y glory

Do you feel pretty?

For all the harping I do about excessive consumption, I'm addicted to Gala Darling and her fabulous dressing-up blog. I guess we're both just trying to make the world a more beautiful place, in our own ways. Plus, you have to dig that she's all about finding your personal style and using it to enhance - not define - your life (which should be satisfying in and of itself).

I'm inspired to see what I can create with the items I already own, and maybe a few vintage finds for good measure. Oh, and maybe something from Maha Devi because I could easily spend upwards of $500 on their hemp-and-bamboo, LOTR-inspired fantasy designs and yogawear. At heart, I'm really just a geek and a girly-girl.

If there's any interest in seeing it, I might finally figure out how to use my camera and take some photos!

Documentary about Dr. Bronner! Everybody celebrate by taking a bath and practicing the Moral ABCs!

I have found my American counterpart. She hugs trees, refuses to use disposable coffee cups, anthropomorphises her cat and has an unholy love for Martha Stewart and argyle socks.

New and Different

Spring is slowly returning to my little corner of the world, even though the weather is being even more of a tease than most girls I knew in high school. I felt it was time for a new look - to hold us all over until such time as we can finally put our winter clothes in storage. I've actually spent some time lately doing this strange girly activity called shopping. I got some brightly-coloured work clothes from Twice-Shy and "American Apparel. They're so summery and fun, I can't wait for the warm weather to come back so that I can show off my pasty legs.

No amount of retail therapy, however, can ever beat the thrill of a clothing swap...getting together with the girls, bringing a bunch of old clothes and dumping them into a pile. Everybody jumps in and takes what they want - absolutely free - and the leftovers go to charity. One of my friends had one recently and while I couldn't go, she invited me over the next night and I scored bigbigbig just from the castoffs. I got a gorgeous, earthy scarf that made a perfect cover for my computer desk, a nearly-new purse, two shirts, a pair of jeans that fit my ass perfectly, and best of all - a fab fedora-type pink hat. All free, all second-hand (and thus without the ecological and social costs of manufacturing)...and my old stuff will be loved once again.

In other news, after about two years of saying "hey we should join the Grainery Jenny and I finally did just that. I had my first shift at the Farmers' Market last weekend and it was such a blast. I got freebies from the other vendors (and this girl LOVES freebies) and saw a bunch of my friends who are market regulars but who I somehow never manage to run into. As a result of this socializing I have a potential biking buddy (for when I finally get my bike) and maybe, possibly, I'll get my guaro and my copy of The Lorax back from the person who's had them since 2004.

Life is good good good.