Gun Street Girl

23 January 12

2012-01-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

Finally got around to dyeing my hair. This was the halfway point.

22 January 12

2012-01-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

I won this month's cookoff (theme: cooking with booze) with my cider-infused chipotle sausage & apple chili and Southern Comfort-infused cornbread. Click here to visit the blog and see the rest of the delicious entries!

21 January 12

2012-01-28T00:21:00.000-08:00

I went downtown for an appointment that turned out to be the following Saturday. Then I came home and drank beer with Steph and watched the hockey game.

20 January 12

2012-01-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

A tribute to the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album cover.

19 January 12

2012-01-25T20:18:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I were both home sick but we somehow managed to go to Costco? Then soup and Game of Thrones and tea.

18 January 12

2012-01-24T22:26:00.000-08:00

17 January 12

2012-01-23T18:35:00.000-08:00

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old versus new.

16 January 12

2012-01-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

Taken at night, but to me the light looks like early morning.

15 January 12

2012-01-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Sure, the photo is boring, but if you click through to read the story that goes with it, you probably won't be bored anymore.

14 January 11

2012-01-20T23:34:00.001-08:00

My aunt Wendy is joining the reserves, and my mom hosted a going-away party for her before she heads off to Montreal for basic training. I was late due to bussing out in the snow, but apparently my uncle Mike showed up in full camo gear and started yelling at her, and made her do 20 pushups. My uncle Ken gave her a bunch of army figurines and a nerf gun. We all ate too much and drank wine in the afternoon, so by the time Jeff came out after work to join us for dinner at the pub, he was the only one who ordered a full meal.
Kenny (above) is going to be seventeen tomorrow. He is my youngest brother. This makes me feel old.

13 January 12

2012-01-19T23:49:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I stayed in and ate Indian food and watched Game of Thrones. Also this happened.

12 January 12

2012-01-18T20:32:00.000-08:00

multivitamin, vitamin d, and vitamin coffee.

11 January 12

2012-01-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

10 January 12

2012-01-16T18:38:00.001-08:00

Sunrise.

09 January 12

2012-01-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

08 January 12

2012-01-14T00:44:00.000-08:00

I went to Sephora and bought new lipstick, and couldn't resist getting some salt and vinegar popcorn at Kernels before coming home.

07 January 12

2012-01-12T23:32:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I drove down to the states for a belated holiday get-together with his American relatives. We traded gifts and stories, drank some beers, and ate so much Indian food.

06 January 12

2012-01-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I went to The Refinery for dinner. Since I'd only had drinks & flatbread there with Liang, it was still basically new to me and everything was incredible. I highly recommend not only the food, but having the bartender custom-make a drink for you with your choice of liquor. I told him I liked old fashioneds and he made me a glorious concoction involving bourbon, brandy & benedictine, and something sweet and lemony.

05 January 12

2012-01-10T22:21:00.000-08:00

Mad sinus headache when I woke up. Stayed home, slept in. Felt a bit better. Had coffee & a shower and made a little trip to the pharmacy and used bookstore. Took photos of my butt. You know how it goes.

04 January 12

2012-01-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

"Books have to be heavy, because the whole world's inside them." —Cornelia Funke

03 January 12

2012-01-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

02 January 12

2012-01-08T11:30:00.001-08:00

01 January 12

2012-01-06T23:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year.

31 December 11

2012-01-05T20:30:00.001-08:00

Final self-portrait of the year. We had a smallish party at the house, about 15 people. We had plenty of food and liquor and played Cards Against Humanity and laughed ourselves silly. Personally, I think that's a much better way to ring in the new year than in a hot, crowded bar full of people you don't know where you're paying $8 for every drink.

30 December 11

2012-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

I got off work at lunchtime and convinced Jeff to come meet me for food & beer at the Irish Heather. Afterwards we wandered around Gastown taking some photos until it got too cold and rainy to continue, and Jeff had to go to work.
Quite pleased with how this one turned out.

29 December 11

2012-01-04T23:22:00.000-08:00

Cluttered bedside table.

28 December 11

2012-01-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

27 December 11

2012-01-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

Trying out the new remote timer.

26 December 11

2012-01-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

New books, bourbon, and Disney movies.

25 December 11

2012-01-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

Lovely Christmas day at the parents' place, complete with someone moving my mom to tears, breakfast booze, too much food, laughing until it hurts, and offensive board games.

24 December 11

2011-12-31T18:11:00.000-08:00

Baking all day, gift exchange with Tony, pork wellington and pumpkin pie at Yvonne's, awkward midnight mass in Maple Ridge followed by eggnog and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

23 December 11

2011-12-31T12:43:00.000-08:00

We had a few people over to exchange gifts and watch two different versions of A Christmas Carol: a musical version from the 70s, and the Muppets one.

22 December 11

2011-12-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I had dinner at the Roundel and then tried to go to Van Dusen Gardens, but we got there at eight and the lineup was all the way out in the parking lot, so we didn't really feel like waiting out in the cold for half an hour just to pay $13 to go in and walk around in the cold for half an hour and then go home.

21 December 11

2011-12-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

Jewellery supplies. I'm excited to turn these feathers into earrings, even if I can't wear them.

20 December 11

2011-12-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

sedum morganianum.

19 December 11

2011-12-29T23:05:00.000-08:00

High school journals. I can hardly bear to look at them, let alone read them, but I also can't bear the idea of getting rid of them.

18 December 11

2011-12-29T22:54:00.000-08:00

vegan Nanaimo bars.

17 December 11

2011-12-29T22:52:00.000-08:00

16 December 11

2011-12-27T20:20:00.000-08:00

Jeff Downer had his going-away party (he will be in Boston for the next year or so). He was incredibly drunk and the party was thankfully much less insane than the dual birthday from a few weeks ago. This was Kaylie's goodbye message to him.

15 December 11

2011-12-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

pinup.

14 December 11

2011-12-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

My entry for our festive red & green cookoff: campari tomato halves with pesto, mozzarella Daiya, and mushrooms & onions fried in port. Check out the cookoff blog to see the rest of the entries and the winners!

13 December 11

2011-12-21T23:31:00.000-08:00

12 December 11

2011-12-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

I had to leave work after like an hour because my back was in so much pain I could barely think. Jeff picked me up and we went to the clinic where my doctor assured me it was muscular, and gave me a prescription for T3s and instructions to take it easy at work for the next week or so. We went over to the Indigo in North Van to look for a particular book I couldn't find at Chapters on the weekend, and afterwards had breakfast at Moodyville's. I filled my prescription and we came home, where Jeff got ready for work and I sat gingerly in a chair, in a daze watching episodes of Boardwalk Empire.

11 December 11

2011-12-19T22:59:00.000-08:00

While we were having breakfast, there were a bunch of birds using our garage roof gutter to take a bath. I was afraid I'd scare them away if I went out back, so I took these through the kitchen window which produced some interesting results.

10 December 11

2011-12-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

I lounged around for most of the day and then I went crazy preparing food for the party. It wasn't as populous as last year's birthday party, I think due to a lot of people's work Christmas parties being on the same day, but it was still a good time and I didn't get to bed until after three.

09 December 11

2011-12-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

Jeff took me for a birthday dinner at Sip on Granville (because The Refinery was booked up). Afterwards we took pictures of pretty lights until my hands froze.

08 December 11

2011-12-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

Playing dress-up.

07 December 11

2011-12-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

Put up our Christmas lights & pathetically small tree.

06 December 11

2011-12-15T00:12:00.000-08:00

05 December 11

2011-12-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

It was my birthday. I became older. I was also still sick and had to go to work. I didn't mind just sitting at home and relaxing alone in the evening after an eventful weekend.

04 December 11

2011-12-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

Ate breakfast at a nearby diner. Bought unreasonably inexpensive wine. Sat in the car forever. Laughed about how Riley thought he saying "bag of chips" in the song "Bandages". Ate pizza. Got home, drank tea, unpacked.

03 December 11

2011-12-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

Slept late. Ate gigantic bagel sandwiches for breakfast at a cafe. Shopped until we got tired of shopping. Alice got her hair dyed at a nice salon on Morrison. We put on heels with our jeans and headed to an Italian restaurant called Mucca and ate a lot of cheese and pasta, and admired the handsome Italian chefs in the open kitchen. They sent us a free panna cotta for dessert (though Mom and I suspect it was because of Alice). The best part was when two ladies came in and sat at the table beside us, looked at the menu, and one of them said to the other, "I thought this was an Italian restaurant. I don't recognize any of this stuff," and then they left! Bitch, if you want lasagna, go to the goddamn Olive Garden.

02 December 11

2011-12-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

Drove to Portland. Went to Powell's. Ate and drank at a Japanese tapas bar at the top of a hotel.

01 December 11

2011-12-10T00:41:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I drove to my parents' place so that I could get up early to drive with Mom and Alice to Portland the following day. We went out for sushi, drank too much sake. I helped my mom drunkenly pack her bag. We all, upon arrival, realised we forgot something: me, a spare bra; Alice, toothbrush; Mom, a belt.

30 November 11

2011-12-08T23:34:00.000-08:00

29 November 11

2011-12-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

28 November 11

2011-12-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

27 November 11

2011-12-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

Vegan peanut butter marble brownies.

26 November 11

2011-12-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

Boy, was I glad to see the end of Movember.

25 November 11

2011-12-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I went to two house parties that could not have been more different: the first, a group of people laughing and chatting over wine, cheese, & homemade desserts; the second, a loud, dark house filled to bursting with people, many of whom I'd never seen before in my life. We had a great time at both.

24 November 11

2011-12-01T14:15:00.001-08:00

To-do list.

23 November 11

2011-12-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

22 November 11

2011-11-29T22:49:00.000-08:00

Cookoff day! The theme was cooking with tea, and I won with my potato leek chamomile soup. Above is Amanda's beautiful oolong smoked tofu with candied orange rind and dandelion greens, which placed second. Visit the blog to view the myriad of other delicious tea-infused foods.

21 November 11

2011-11-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

20 November 11

2011-11-27T21:38:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I stopped at New Brighton Park on our way to the grocery store. It was freezing cold, but beautiful.

19 November 11

2011-11-27T10:36:00.000-08:00

18 November 11

2011-11-26T17:47:00.000-08:00

A tribute to the Amélie scene/quote about cracking the top of a crème brûlée with a teaspoon.
Jeff was at work and I didn't feel like doing much so I just watched a bunch of episodes of Boardwalk Empire.

17 November 11

2011-11-24T21:25:00.000-08:00

16 November 11

2011-11-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

15 November 11

2011-11-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

One of the trays in the rock & mineral collection I inherited from my Grandpa D.O. when he died a few years ago. I feel kind of weird about the fact that the asbestos sample isn't in a baggie or anything, just hanging out.

14 November 11

2011-11-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

I put old t-shirts into frames when I don't wear them anymore, but can't bear to get rid of them.

13 November 11

2011-11-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

12 November 11

2011-11-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I went to Kerrisdale Cameras and got a new lens. Not the exact same, because after reading a bunch of reviews, it turns out our 18-105 lens is not really worth as much as it costs and has a couple of problems that I noticed, but Jeff thought I was crazy when I brought them up. Anyway, we ended up getting the significantly less expensive 18-55 and are intending to get a nice 50mm prime in the near future. I do miss the zoom of the old lens, but it's worth it for the crispness I'm getting at close distances with this new one.
In the evening Jesse hosted a rum tasting party, and unlike the vodka tasting party, all the rums were DRASTICALLY different, and with the exception of the Newfoundland Screech, all were delicious.

11 November 11

2011-11-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

11.11.11.

10 November 11

2011-11-17T19:31:00.000-08:00

I got up early so I could take photos in the daylight, but the lens on the camera seemed clunky, almost jammed, and nothing was in focus even though it all looked fine in the viewfinder. Took the lens off to check it out and a piece of the aperture fell out. Super sad.

09 November 11

2011-11-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

Curried tomato & chickpea soup with vegan sour cream and cilantro. On the side, wasa with vegan cream cheese, cucumber, and sprouts.

08 November 11

2011-11-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

07 November 11

2011-11-14T18:59:00.000-08:00

It was super rainy, and after taking this photo, Jeff and I cozied up in bed with mugs of tea and watched Cast Away.

06 November 11

2011-11-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

It was a perfect fall day. I walked around the neighbourhood enjoying the sunlight and fallen leaves, the crispness of the air. I decided I'd like a bottle of the Whistler Brewing chestnut ale, so I went to Oscar's and everything was 10% off because their fridge wasn't cooling! Best day. Drank the delicious beer while watching the game with Steph.

05 November 11

2011-11-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

Jeff had the morning off for the first time in at least three weeks, so we went to the Roundel for breakfast, and then took some photos in the lovely morning light at the park. Afterwards we went to H&M, where I found a decent coat for $40 and Jeff got a replacement sweater similar to the one I shrunk, a vest, a cap, and a tie. After dinner with Jesse, Krystyna, and the Dixons, I had a quiet evening alone reading Harry Potter and drinking tea.

04 November 11

2011-11-10T23:32:00.000-08:00

I went down to Steph's to watch the end of the game (which was awful). Steph's mom was visiting and Val was also there and they offered me some wine and pizza so obviously I accepted. When I came back upstairs I was moderately drunk, so this photo was kind of lazy.

03 November 11

2011-11-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

02 November 11

2011-11-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

These are all the books I have acquired somewhat recently that do not fit on my already-full bookshelf.

01 November 11

2011-11-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

This month, I'm doing a photo challenge by tumblr/flickr user Bohemea, the prompts for which can be viewed here. I may not always post the same photo on my blog, so if you like you can check out my shots on my tumblr, or in the flickr set. This is day one: reflection.

31 October 11

2011-11-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

The pumpkins Sarah and Onur came up with. On Halloween Jeff made pumpkin soup and we ate it while watching The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror and handing out candy. And eating candy.

30 October 11

2011-11-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

In the afternoon I met Amanda at her work, where she made me an espresso macchiato while I waited for her. Then we got some sushi at a place on Commercial I'd never been to before but which was super cheap and delicious. We headed back to her place, where Jeff Downer had freshly baked oatmeal cookies to greet us with, and put on a pot of tea. When I came home, Sarah and Onur were gutting pumpkins. Onur had never carved a pumpkin and he tasted the guts — Sarah laughed and said she'd never seen anyone eat raw pumpkin before.

29 October 11

2011-11-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

Still sick, but I got dressed and went with Jeff to get beer and groceries. Neither of us felt much like going to a Halloween party (plus we didn't have costumes) so we just watched the hockey game with Steph and drank our beer (mine was Whistler Brewing's Chestnut Ale, which is possibly the most delicious beer of all time). I rounded the night off with another nyquil.

28 October 11

2011-11-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

I still felt awful but couldn't afford to miss another day of work. I took a nyquil and went to bed early.

27 October 11

2011-11-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

I felt like ass the day before, but forced myself to go in to work because I had too much to do. Unfortunately this just made me feel worse the next day so I HAD to stay home. I spent a good 40 minutes arranging these concert tickets to put in this frame, not gluing them or anything, and of course as soon as I stood the thing upright all the ones in the middle slid down to the bottom. I still haven't bothered to take it out of the frame and do it properly yet.

26 October 11

2011-11-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

I started reading The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and could not stop. I read the whole thing in one day.

25 October 11

2011-11-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

I think I accidentally deleted my photo from the 24th, which is when I went to Chelsea's to get my hair cut. Here is an awful photo from Tuesday, when I had another date with Liang. We ate burgers at Pivo and then went to Tinseltown and saw a cute French movie called Les Femmes du 6ème Étage, about Spanish maids in Paris in the 1960s.

23 October 11

2011-11-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

I met Jeff downtown after his shift so I could help him shop for clothes for his new job. He got three new shirts, two sweaters, and two pairs of pants and pretty much all of it was on sale. I on the other hand tried on a $280 peacoat at Club Monaco and spent the rest of the day wishing I could afford it.

22 October 11

2011-11-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is the first nude photo I've taken since I took out my right nipple piercing a few months ago. I'm getting used to it, but it still feels a bit uneven with just the one.

21 October 11

2011-10-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

I had a second date with Liang; we were going to go to the movies but the lineup at the theatre was literally out the door, so instead we had drinks and flatbread at The Refinery, and kissed goodnight in the middle of Granville Street.

20 October 11

2011-10-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter bathroom graffiti.

19 October 11

2011-10-27T22:16:00.001-07:00

Cookoff day at Yaara & Adriana's. Pretty small, only nine people - almost half of the last one. Above is Veronica's winning entry: a roasted beet and garlic tart with a gluten free pastry. Check out the blog to see all the entries and winners!

18 October 11

2011-10-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

I stayed up until midnight getting my entry for the cookoff ready. I had never really cooked beets before and it was very frustrating! And in my haste to get the cupcakes finished I almost forgot the sugar, which would have made them the healthiest, most awful-tasting cupcakes ever.

17 October 11

2011-10-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

Jeff got hired at the Mill Marine Bistro, so he met up with me after my shift and we went out to celebrate with dinner & drinks at Six Acres. Jeff thought the place was a little too hipster-y; I thought it was just great.

16 October 11

2011-10-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

I shot Hannah's portrait in the little park on Nanaimo. I did a roll of film and a bunch of digital, but I think the film turned out better. View the set here.
Afterwards Jeff and I went to my parents' place for dinner: a delicious roast beef with potatoes, asparagus, corn, and yorkshire pudding. Plus a spiced apple bundt cake for dessert. Poor Alice's car got broken into and they stole all of her art supplies, so she needed cheering up.

15 October 11

2011-10-23T11:30:00.001-07:00

I don't know why I dress like this when all I'm doing is running errands.