Recent Acquisitions

A few months ago, my father gave me his record collection and player as it wasn't getting any use and was simply taking space. Since then, V and I have been listening to and collecting records on a regular basis. After a recent thrift shop run, I picked up eight records in one shot as I found there to be too many good ones to pass up. Each record cost me 1$ which is pretty much as good as it gets (unless you get them for free). Here is the list (from left to right):

Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Best of BTO
Paul McCartney & Wings - Wild Life
Paul McCartney - McCartney
Paul McCartney & Wings - Wings Over America
Lionel Richie - Can't Slow Down (Mexican Pressing)
Blind Faith (self titled)
Don McLean - American Pie
John Mellencamp - The Lonesome Jubilee

I also managed to pick up a copy of Geroge Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier which I have been keeping an eye out for since London days (2-3 years).

T.

Recent Acquisitions

It has been two and a half years since my first instalment of Recent Acquisitions back in October of 2011. What better time than now to launch the second instalment! Between the first and second posts many an item has been acquired by none other than myself, although I won't overwhelm you with piles of "recently" acquired goods. Here are but a few things I've recently gotten my hands on;

1) CLARKS ORIGINALS Desert Boot-Green/Black

I picked up this pair of badass boots at Urban Outfitters during quite an enticing sale. I've been eyeing a pair of these for quite a while and it feels great to finally pick up a pair. Super comfy, these boots have been around for roughly 60 years. Looking forward to using them during the late summer/fall.

2) COLE HAAN Suede Dress Shoes-Camel

This pair was picked while thrift shopping in TO. Got them at a very sweet price-point. I've worn them for dressier occasions as well as with jeans and sock-less on warmer ocassions. A great pick up that will get a lot of use.

3) REEBOK Saku Koivu Canadiens Tee

Had to support my team (especially residing in Toronto). I found this NOS (New Old Stock) tee at a thrift shop in Toronto, and snapped it up super quickly. Go Habs Go!

4) DOCKERS Tapered/Skinny-Navy and Khaki

Got these at Urban Outfitters during the same shopping escapade as the boots. They were about 70% off the original price so I had to pick them up. The material is thick and sturdy, while still feeling fresh.

5) ZARA MAN Harem Pants-Black

Since London days, I've been looking for a sturdy pair of harem pants with pockets. These seem to do the trick except for the sturdy part, although they are super comfy and have a total of four pockets.

T.

How to Clean and Polish Leather Footwear

It's that time of year when the weather warrants cleaning off those nasty salt stains left over from winter. Here is a quick breakdown of how to clean your leather footwear.

1) Use a horse hair brush to wipe away any leftover residue from the winter (dust, dirt, salt, etc).

2) Wipe down your boot or shoe with a leather soap that will clean and moisturize the leather.

3) Using circular motions, work in some polish to get a nice looking shine.

4) Finally, use the horse hair brush to buff the leather.

Watch the following video to get a better idea of how to get those dull looking shoes, looking brand spanking new.

T.

DIY Movember Edition....

Welcome to the month known as Movember. Where men across the world grow (and attempt to grow) moustaches to raise money for men's health initiatives. I've personally only participated in the growing of a moustache once in the past few years, and have sported a full beard since then. In light of moustaches sprouting about seemingly everywhere and after reading an insightful article from the Art of Manliness entitled How to Grow a Handlebar Moustache, I decided to procur some moustache wax to "style" my own growth.
Moustache wax is something that not many stores carry, from the smallest apothecary or health store to the biggest pharmacy type. After some research, I found that the Toronto Barber & Beauty Supply carried some for roughly $8 at their only location in the city, downtown. Wanting to save myself a traffic-filled trip to the shop, I took it upon myself to buy some ingredients (Beeswax and Cocunut Oil) and attempt making my own batch of the stuff. It was a lot easier than I thought it would have been, and the results are very promising. An old Altoids tin was used to house the wax, and from the looks of it it'll last a while. I invite those who are growing moustaches this month, as well as those who permanently have them to pick up or make some wax to inject some life into your staches.

T.

New Continent...new projects

It has been a while since I have written on our blog. Before leaving for London this blog acted as a diary of ideas, excitement and really just a way to share. Once we moved life took over a little, even though we experienced so much while living in the UK....realistically speaking we had WAY more to write about once on the the other side of the pond but just...didn't.

So now we are back...back home...back in Canada...back to blogging...We have both been on a bit of a crazy job hunt in the last month. Trying desperately to hold onto our profession, but finding it difficult to find anything in our field...

as a result...

Our hobbies have started to take over...since checking my e-mails a thousand times a day is not helping with the job hunt....drum roll...new hobby...CARDS! 

I love holidays, I love decorating, I love love love Christmas...so on a frigid walk down Queen St, we stumbled upon some hilarious cards which got me thinking...and then drawing...and then producing. 

So here they are, I have opened my first Etsy Shop! The cards are cute, funny, simple and appropriate...

side note...When did funny completely turn into inappropriate or plain rude?! It boggles my mind why anyone would want to receive a Christmas card with swearing on it...weird. 

Either way! Check them out...maybe even buy some :D...All ideas are welcome...

V.

Book Review: Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

Eric Blair's (pen name George Orwell) first published novel is a fantastic read. It treads a fine line between fact and a type of fiction that slightly stretches the truth to the point that many critics dismiss this novel as a memoir. The book is divided into two parts, and as you might have guessed Paris and London make up those parts.
Orwell's time in Paris is spent conspiring with communists and looking for work in restaurants with a Russian friend without much luck. Promises are broken, money is stolen and items are sold in order to survive.
In London, Orwell finds himself (having "survived" Paris): confident. He spends his time tramping in and around the city, meeting some interesting folk along the way, despite living the homeless life. Eventually, sick of living on the brink of nothingness, Orwell writes home to his family to provide him with some sustenance to help him get out of the situation he found himself in.
The issue that most critics have with Down and Out, is that Orwell emerged from quite a wealthy family and brought those "difficult" situations upon himself. The thinking was that if he truly immersed himself in a poverty riddled lifestyle, he would then be able to better represent how one would feel being in that situation. His assessment on poverty is truly spot on and so honest that it leaves you believing that you were by Orwell's side all along.
George Orwell's Down and out in Paris and London is an interesting and griping read that will leave you asking all sorts of questions regarding social justice and equality.

The Things That We Do...

Jay Z and Mariah Carey once said "It's those things that you do that make you feel so, I don't know..." which pretty much sums up how we're feeling at the moment. We have been back in the nation of maple syrup, snow and moose for about a month, and at times it has felt like we haven't left at all. That can be both a good and a bad thing. We are slowly finding our ways and settling in nicely, although the thought of London life sometimes lingers in the back of our minds. With that said, free time has been bountiful thus far and therefore I've taken the opportunity to try and use this time constructively. And what's more constructive than random art projects (that's a joke ps). Here is the fruit of our labour, enjoy.

T.

New challenge....

A couple of weeks of work, three separate "trips" in a span of two weeks, and a few more weeks of work later, and voila here we are.

Having this means of sharing information, opinions, and other ideas is wonderful when I have something that I want people to have access to, and where the 'who' doesn't really matter.

Both V and I have signed up to Instagram recently (after a long love-hate relationship with it), with some reluctance from my end. After a couple of days of fooling around with it, and exploring different editing options, it's actually pretty cool. I've given myself a goal of posting one picture everyday for an entire year. The topic is open ended, the only restriction I've attempted to impose on myself is to post an original photo as opposed to recycling shots. Where inspiration lacks I might through in an old shot that has not made it's way to the interwebs yet, but this will be a rarely used last resort.

My Instagram name is @tdamota (same as my twitter) in case one is wondering how to access said year long supply (to be) of pictures.
Enjoy.

T.

Bad Weather Magnets

We arrived just over a year ago to delightful 15 degree weather (Celsius) in late February, when snowstorms were still very well in the making back home in Canada. This "honeymoon" period lasted for roughly a month. Spring rolled around and with it came the showers. The problem? The showers never really seemed to want to leave, as the UK recorded it's wettest summer. Lucky us, we got to be a part of it. This weather (for us) lasted until we made our way to Portugal for some actual seasonal weather (aka summer).

Upon our return, the weather was once again uninspiring. Not necessarily bad, but again nothing to write home about either. We cruised through fall, with much less fanfare than the so called "wettest summer ever". Winter finally rolled around. It seemed that it was just like fall, but slightly colder. Being the bad weather magnets we are, the UK had a few tricks up it's sleeve. Thrown at us was a slew of days with freezing temperatures, little bits of snow, and strong winds, dubbed "the big freeze". Now being Canadian and having survived winters for a number of years now, we told London to bring it on. We were by no means unprepared, or bundled up to the same extent as our Aussie friends, but we did notice that the cold here is of a slightly different nature. The extreme dampness in the air (probably left-over from the summer) seems to creep into every nook and cranny, sending chills through one's body. Coldest winter in almost 20 years. Enough snow to shutdown major airports for a couple of days. School children being told they couldn't go play outside because it was too cold, too icy, too snowy.

With the start of spring here on March 1st, optimism was high regarding a turn around in the weather. But alas, the big freeze has returned, wreaking havoc on residents all over the UK.
Bad weather magnets.

Here's to summer.

T.

Happy New Year!

We've gone a solid two months (and one week) without posting any material whatsoever on our blog. Although we are slightly disappointed that our "streak" is coming to an end it's definitely for the better.

What do you include in a blog post, that is meant to "make up" for the past two months. I guess we'll begin with wishing everyone a happy new year, as this is indeed our first post in 2013 (pathetic, I know). It's not that we've been too lazy to write, on the contrary, work has us busier than ever writing lesson plans, assessments, reports, and marking books, and then doing that thing we're acctualy meant to do, teach. Something British teachers seem to enjoy less of than their Canadian counterparts, as so much "busy" work is expected from teachers, that the educational system is slowly suffocating otherwise passionate, vibrant, and eclectic teachers. So that whole thing has been keeping us quite busy.

We did however get quite the sweet deal in terms of vacation, as we were enjoying a one week (half term) break three weeks after having arrived from home. We filled that week with various exploration expeditions of London and surrounding areas, including visiting Oxford (the highlight of our week off). A couple of museums, markets, and lunches out later, the break was quickly coming to an end. But fear not! This half term is only 5 weeks long, meaning that in 3 1/2 weeks time we'll be off work for another 2 1/2 weeks. More intricate plans have been made for this time off, as we've learned our lesson of waiting until the last minute to make them.

The first day of spring was on the 1st of March here in the UK, and with mother's day coming up this weekend what could possibly provide a better occasion to celebrate fresh starts, new beginnings, and a celebration of a metaphorical re-birth (maybe new year's). Happy new year!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Twenty-five to forty centimeters is what is predicted today for the Montreal region. So far, in near whiteout conditions, with wind blowing up to 60 km/h, we've only received roughly 10 of those predicted centimeters. Driving is absolutely treacherous; slippery conditions not helping the fact that drivers cannot see much beyond 10 meters ahead of them.

I'm presently waiting, at Gare Centrale, to board a Toronto bound train. So far, I've been waiting a half hour in line, to board the train. Boarding was to begin at 9:30 with the train scheduled to depart at 10:10. It's 10 o'clock now, with no sign of progress towards the boarding of this train. Every 10 minutes, the boarding time gets pushed back, 9:30, 9:40, 9:55, and now 10:05. With any luck we'll be on board by 10:15, only arriving to Toronto one hour late.

Hopefully Toronto's Pearson airport is more prepared for this snowfall (it shouldn't be as bad as Montreal), as V (the birthday girl) flys in today with the fam. Although the place they would potentially be stuck in is slightly nicer than where I'm at now.

T.

Not packed...

Not packed...we are flying home tomorrow morning. Planning to leave the house by 7 in the morning because it takes forever to get to Gatwick...That way we should arrive at the airport with a few minutes to spare...fingers crossed...
The last few weeks flew by but have also been super busy...stressful, and frankly, I'm over it.
Here are some things that just really got to me this week:

6 weeks of hard work from my little Art Club elves...down the pooper...Friday morning I arrive at school...perky...my last day of work..yay!!! I walk into the hall where all the exciting Christmas bazzar activities will be held after school...That same hall that my kids have been decorating; painting GIANT ornaments, stockings, and a fire place...linking enormous chains and cutting out heaps and heaps of beautiful snowflakes...The hall that I spent hours decorating after work so that it would be ready and pretty...while cutting my finger open on a huge pair of super sharp scissors because I was tired and fed up of cutting out ornaments...All this work...GONE...not present at all...not even a little bit...just gone...The giant fire place...gone...the giant painted and sparkly ornaments...gone...stockings...gone...candy canes...gone... :(
After asking each and every staff member, posting a giant missing sign in the staff room...cleaning staff...head teacher...nothing...Most disappointing thing...
"Miss...where are all our decorations? Should we get them and hang them up?"....

...All in all B...S...

Getting sick...I know...we work with snotty little bundles of joy...but the concept of sneezing and coughing into your elbow does not exist in this country...The other day I personally witnessed a year 2 boy (6/7 years old) walk by MY comfy, swivel, teacher chair...the ones that have the soft pillow-like backing...and wipe his nose as he was walking by from one end to the next before quietly sitting down on the carpet...HOW?! How am I expected to stay healthy...NO amount of vitamins will protect me from my sneezers, coughers, and anti hand washers...with 30...30 children in each of my classes there is literately NO way to protect myself...therefore I have been sick as a dog all week...I see it as my turn to sneeze all over the place....

So no...I'm not packed...not even close...BUT really happy to be going home...a few bottles of wine should help...I also need to shower and paint my nails...Big day tomorrow...I think I have a few bunches of clothes on the bed...my yes...no...and maybe piles...Thanks Y ;)...

Can not wait to see all my favorite people tomorrow...here are your last virtual hugs and kisses for now...get ready for some tight squeezes.


V.

12/12/12....

Once in a lifetime. The last time this century. What more could one ask for in terms of inspiration for a blog post. But there's only so much inspiration one could gather from the date (which in this case isn't much).

With only four sleeps left until we're back in the land of moose and igloos, anticipation, excitement, and nervousness are beginning to creep up on us much like it always seems to do. I feel like we still have so much to deal with here before leaving for a 'short' vacation of 4 1/2 weeks, that we've adopted the strategy of let's not deal with anything right now and wait until the last minute (sort of). The major issues have been dealt with;
Pounds exchanged for Canadian Dollars (CHECK)
Finding someone to take our flat for a month (CHECK)
Take time off work (CHECK)
Ensure that there is some work for when we get back (CHECK)
Laundry (CHECK)
Clean the flat (not even close)
Organise a goodbye for now shindig (not really)
Pack (nope)

With work the next two days, accomplishing anything on our list might be slightly ambitious (and we all know how that turned out for me once already). That leaves possibly some progress to be made on Friday night, and Saturday to accomplish everything we NEED to finish before we leave. Can we do it? Without a doubt, that's not the issue. It's simply how and what we need to do in order to get there. Happy 12/12/12 everyone! A bientot.

T.

Impromptu Christmas...

When you wake up on Saturday morning, at the perfect time (10:00am), ready for an exciting day off, filled with jogging, exploring and experiencing the 'winter wonderland' that London has gracefully set up in Hyde park...and all you see is grey and raindrops on your window...all excitement magically disappears. The day is then spent in an overall grouchy mood with little to no desire to do much of anything. UNTIL...T gets fed up with watching shows and doing nothing...
So, out we go, into the rain with our wellies, umbrella and semi positive attitudes. With one thing on our to do list...buy light bulbs as both the kitchen and hallway are in dire need.
We start discussing ideas of what to do...go out for dinner and complain about the weather together seems like the best idea...we just need the bulbs. 

With the local potential light bulb store closed we head off to Sainsbury's. A grocery store that strongly resembles a superstore as it sells everything that you might ever possibly need.

On our way in, my mood is automatically brightens as I spot little potted Christmas trees...
Shopping list starts to grow...and dinner plans start to change because nobody wants to look for a restaurant while carrying a tree.

1)Light bulbs

With light bulbs out of the way the fun begins...In the decorations aisle we come to a new dilemma...colour/theme...And after some serious deliberations:
2) 6 gold bells
3) 6 red bells 
4) white lights
5) tiny angel to sit on top...

Now dinner...All of a sudden being in Christmas spirit we decide to go traditional...Roast chicken, potatoes and what ever else we can think of.

6) full chicken

In the candy aisle...T realizes that he is no longer holding our giant umbrella...as a result we must have:

7) chocolate covered peanuts x2

No explanation needed for the next purchase:

8) Bottle of red

And we are done...just need to pick out the tree...

9) Tiny potted Christmas tree

All necessities for a perfect impromptu Christmas....minus 1 umbrella... :(

Chicken is stuffed and in the oven, tree is decorated and all is good...

Happy early Christmas everyone.

V. 



 

Too ambitious?...

So maybe I was somewhat too ambitious in setting a goal for ourselves of posting 12 times during the month of October. A decision that I took upon myself to enact upon the both of us (without previous consultation with V). We gave it a valiant effort, but still came up quite short with only a total of 6 posts. Only 50% of our target. But s 600% increase in posts from the previous month. The numbers don't lie.
We'd love to be able to spend our days planning and prepping posts, snapping shots, sketching incredible fashion pieces, writing wonderful stories, but there is simply not enough time in a day to find a quiet moment where blogging is our top priority. It quickly falls down the depth chart behind, eating, sleeping, watching our shows, and prepping for work. It's a shame but its true. An interesting solution to an increase in free time, that I've devised with the help of A (a mate who teaches at school with me) is to simply reduce the total number of hours in a day to 21. So those 3 hours per day multiplied by 7 days in a week will equal to an extra day with, you guessed it, 21 hours. So 8 days in a week, with each day having 21 hours. Now you're probably thinking to yourself "Well that doesn't make any sense at all, eventually we'd have sunshine during the night, and darkness during the day". And the way I see it is, if the Inuit and other folk that live above the arctic circle can do it, well maybe we to can do it. We'd then still work Monday to Friday, but we'd have slightly shorter work days (to allow us to do the rest of the things we need to do during the day, and we'd be able to enjoy a 3 day weekend. As for the name of the 3rd weekend day, let's call it, well-deservedsday (I'm very open to other suggestions as to what it should be named instead of my suggestion). Thanks.

T.

Just a start...

I finally summed up the courage to attend a drawing class...The little signs for Bethnal Green Live Drawing 50 yards-------> Have been taunting me for months...I started seeing them pretty much right when we moved in to our flat. So, it has taken me 7 months to look into it (very scary first step) and another month to coax myself into finally attending... And let me tell you, though artists can be incredibly intimidating with all their pretentious self proclaimed styles and new age ways of holding pencils, they can also be amazingly laid back and welcoming...

I was late for my first class...go figure...Walking up the stairs, slightly sweaty since I had been running around the area trying to find the building, I almost turned around...I personally can't see anything more awkward than walking into a live drawing class with all your stuff falling out of your purse...trying to find an empty chair which of course is directly across from where you are standing, meaning you have to walk half the perimeter of the room, tripping over peoples stuff and asking them in a loud whisper to move, as you apologize a million times...

This did not happen to me...:) I walked in, a lovely lady standing by the door seemed excited to see me again...and was slightly surprised when I told her it was my first time...She led me in, taking half my stuff. Brought me a chair, an easel board, paper, clips and in a normal speaking voice as if we were the only ones there, explained how the class goes, introduced me to the people sitting next to me and patted me on the back as she walked away. For the next three hours we all drew...(with a 20 min break half way through where the nice lady made a group of over 40 people pizza and snacks)...

Even though I have only gone twice, I feel as though I have found a new hobby...even if it is just a start...I like it...So, since I'm being all brave and all...here are some of my sketches...(more on snapshots)

V.

Impromptu Cambridge Trip...

Most weekends are spent in bed, at a market, hanging out with friends or exploring a new part of London...This is all good fun...gives us that feeling as though we have had a semi productive but mostly relaxing weekend which in reality is what we want/need after a long week...
Some days however, we decide to jazz things up and escape...without telling anyone...just go.
Here is a recap of our impromptu day trip to Cambridge...a magical Harry Potter style city...Very British...Very quaint...Very proper.

So, after rolling around in bed and debating our options, we finally decide to just go to the train station and see whats up...
Once there we find out that tickets are cheaper than we expected...zing!
Board the train...with obviously 3 min to spare...No one likes having to wait.
Beside us sits a man with a long grey pony tail wearing a leather jacket...I would say in his mid 60s. With him he has his pal Henry...A black puppy that looks like a lab but is 5 times smaller...And not because he is a puppy...Henry is two years old and fully grown.
T pulls out his planning folder, being the organized teacher that he is...and I sit...secretly wanting to play with the puppy...
Not being able to resist I strike up conversation...just to get me closer to my ultimate goal...
I get introduced to Henry, who remains sitting on his chair, anxiously waiting to go visit his sister and aunty just outside of Cambridge for a week...Grey pony tail turns out to be a magician...with a pin attached to his mean leather jacket that says he is part of the magicians secret magic group...Not joking...So no, I did not get to play with Henry but I did get an hour and twenty minutes of free entertainment from Robin G Magician...Member of Zodiac Magical Society...:)
After being mind blown for over an hour we arrive in Cambridge.
The rest of the day is pretty uneventful. Cambridge is a beautiful little town with a stunning university campus and a lot of old churches. A canal runs through it that offers boat tours in the rain with a bunch of strangers all cuddling under the same blanket...No...we did not participate.
Instead we walked around...took pictures...found a tiny hole in the wall coffee shop that gave us shelter from the unexpected down pour...As well as delish soup, coffees and sandwiches...
That was pretty much it...oh...and I bought a pair of boots...:)....(see more photos on the snapshots blog...)

 
V.

Weekend Jogs...

Ok I'm going to do my best and be honest here...Yes we went running twice this weekend...and No we do not do this daily (anymore) in fact we have not been out together since our trip to Portugal...BUT none the less, T (as usual) got us up and out of the door...
Here are some picture taken after our run...It is Autumn in London and even though not as colourful as back home, we managed to take some nice pictures...I think...(more on our snapshots blog...)

V.

Rainy, pretty London...

Walking today during my lunch break, I had a bit of an enlightenment. It was raining (as it usually does) but it didn't depress me today. It could have been that I had the afternoon off in terms of teaching, but I all of a sudden appreciated what was happening around me.
I started noticing little bits and pieces of images that were spellbinding. My iPhone was whipped out of my pocket in the light rain, and I began snapping away. Beautiful scenes started to unravel before my very eyes. Maybe it was a coming to terms, a new-found appreciation of some things rain related.

To see more from today's walk, check out our photo blog at tvsnapshots.blogspot.com

 

 

T.

Trying out something new...

Always wanted to try drawing fashion sketches...This is my attempt. It was fun to plan the outfit on paper and then see how it actually looks when on... :) Obviously I am no pro and therefore have no concept of proportions or how all this is supposed to be done but by the outcome of my google search on 'fashion sketches', all bodies seemed to be stretched and exaggerated...

V.