hope everyone is having a great Tuesday and enjoying any ol’ excuse to cuddle up to your loved ones and rub noses!

the Mister is at work at the moment but I can’t wait till he gets home for the evening so we can eat a yummy dinner and spend some time together. 

aren’t we cute?

I’ve spent my morning & afternoon curled up in bed reading The Hunger Games (Book 1) & nursing a sore tummy. I can’t wait until it’s summer time and I could be outside hanging out near the garden, drinking tea and reading instead of being huddled under so many blankets in an effort to stay warm!

The kitties are snuggled together in the living room and I’m tempted to swoop them up and bring them into our bedroom to share their warmth. I don’t know why I’m feeling so cold today but I’m sure I’ll feel better by the time Garrett gets off of work.

I’m so happy to have met such a wonderful person and am so humbled that he wants to share the rest of his life with me. His generosity, his kindness and his openness are just a few of the many, many things that I love about him… and I am definitely one lucky lady! :)

at any rate - Happy Valentines Day everyone!

-m.

It’s raining out today and is supposed to carry this out until nightfall. It’s days like this that make me think about past adventures in brighter, sunnier days wether that be on this continent or on another. 

It’s been awhile since I ventured anywhere out of Ontario - I’m feeling a bit nostalgic and missing some friends of mine. Sitting here sipping tea with kitties purring at my side and looking around at our home makes me quite happy but it’s still fun to take a trip down memory lane.

Hanging out in BC with Jeff, Curt & Bill - having bonfires on the beach & going sailing throughout the day… these are a few of the best friends I’ve ever had and I miss those guys something fierce. 

 

Bill’s sailboat is a 26 footer named the Sweet Marie and she sure is a beaut! We were sailing here on the ocean and I can still hear the lovely sounds of Beirut as we floated on and soaked up the sunny day.

 

Rihkee and I backpacked Europe two summers ago and had a very merry adventure, indeed. Sitting in a simple courtyard cafe in Ghent, Belgium and enjoying an afternoon Blonde was one of our favorite activities. 

 

Barcelona was fun and we ended up meeting with our friend James (a fellow Canadian!) that we befriended earlier in our journey in Madrid. The architecture in Europe is so old and grand… everywhere you casually sit just also happens to be a gorgeous sculptural piece. 

 

Winnipeg with it’s fun lovin’ free spirited kids & outdoor water family playgrounds always makes me smile. Backpacking through Europe for a month then through Canada for another makes you loosen up… an outdoor shower was something I couldn’t resist. 

Love. <3.

Speaking of love and showers - I think it’s about time I clean up and get on with my day! I hope everyone’s having a great week and enjoying the last few days of January…

tomorrow I turn 29 and I’m pretty excited! :) I’m looking forward to making my birthday cake & taking so many pictures to share with everyone.

Woo! 

-m. 

So!

I confess I’ve been so busy as of late that I’ve put my blog by the wayside… oh, Blog - I won’t forget you again! I promise! I’m in the process of making a weekly log book to keep track of all the lovely ideas I have for Float On Calm Seas and I plan on sticking to it!

I swear!

This month has been filled with great adventures, the Boy being sick at home (yay to days off with him around, though!) and crafty, crafty times. I recently updated my Etsy (www.manatron.etsy.com) with a whole whack of reprinted vintage valentines and I placed an order online for a bunch of resin materials to start making resin jewelry, too!

(I am TRÈS EXCITED! Eeeeee!!)

Here are some photos of the valentines - aren’t they super adorable? I have such a hard time picking my favorites…

 

This robot one makes me smile so, so, so big!

and this tea cup one is waaaaay too cute! <3. 

SWOOOOON - Valentines Day, you’re awfully adorable & I salute you!

I’ve also been super duper excited about finding out my eyeglasses prescription & getting in on a deal via www.ClearlyContacts.ca that they had on earlier this month. You could get a free pair of glasses and just have to pay for shipping… Obviously I used three different email addresses (only one pair of glasses per email address was allowed) and shystered my way to getting THREE pairs for a total of 74 dollars! 

AMAZING.

Here’s me showing off my shades - am I vain? Which ones are your favorite?

 

…please excuse the purple-ness - apparently I’m a muppet in real life!

With all of this going on I’ve been one busy little beaver. I also crocheted my first complete neck+hat coverings (photos on this another day) and am working on something fun for the Boy for his birthday.

OH!! Speaking of Birthdays! Tuesday the 24th is my 29th Birthday! Only two days away! EEeeee!

The Boy & I will be spending it making my fabulous birthday cake (oh, the PICTURES you guys! THE PICTURES YOU WILL SEE…) going to the ROM & then out for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory <3.

I am so super duper excited - and loved - and thankful!

I hope everyone has been having a great ol’ time this past month and a wonderful introduction to 2012. I’ll be updating once a week from now on (maybe twice, depending on how many things I get my mitts into!) - so please check back every Monday for a new post :)

Much love!

-m. 

so The Boy & I have been talking about having a garden for what feels like forever! we only recently moved into our super lovely house apartment in October so this upcoming growing season will finally mark our debut as *gasp*… Gardeners.

we’ve been reading tons of books and getting prepped for the season… right now I’m in the middle of both of these page turners:

Jamie at Home (Jamie Oliver) which is a great cookbook laid out seasonally with great tips on how to start a proper garden - varieties of produce - how/where to order seeds and other yummy things…

&

Your Farm In The City (Lisa Taylor) which has been my go-to garden bible so far! This book is beautifully laid out from start to finish as a complete DIY city-based gardening tool.

I also made a quick spiral notebook Garden Journal for us to write in about what our goals are, a mapped out vision of what the garden will look like, what plants we’re interested in growing and to keep track on things like harvesting, sun/shade areas, what works/what fails and so forth. 

My next project is to get us starting a compost bin because it just makes sense! We already use a green bin that’s outside and gets recycled every two weeks… why am I giving away great compost when I could be using it for my own garden? Just seems silly!

Now it’s time to pop off to the kitchen to make a pot of tea and curl up with another chapter to take my mind off the snow outside… and spend some time with the kitties. 

See you next year, folks! Hope your holidays were great :)
-m.