Kanga's AQUA Framed Bracelet

I'm sure you have noticed the Fab Pick of the Week located on the right hand side of this page. I am going to continue choosing lovely items once a week to feature but in addition I will be creating a post repeating exactly what you see on the sidebar. This way if you have a burning desire to be reminded of a particular artist/shop you can click on the label of Etsy and see all of the previous Fab Picks. Why I feel compelled to explain this to you I don't know, I'm sure you would have figured it out on your own but now that my fingers have gone to all the trouble of typing this out I don't want to insult them by deleting it.

Onto the stunning feature of last week:

I'm a sucker for anything aqua so when I stumbled across this beautiful bracelet by Kanga I was smitten! Be sure to check out the matching earrings and loads of other stunning pieces at Kanga's etsy shop.

Blogtoberfest Fave Friday

Happy Birthday Tanya!

I'm on a roll of forgetfulness. One of the most fabulous women in my life is living in Russia and it was her 29th birthday on Tuesday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANYA! This hottie decided to tattoo your beautiful face on his beautiful body. I tried to wrap him up and ship him to Russia for you but he refused to fold himself into a packing box. How rude.

I hope you had a stupendous birthday Tanya, you deserve only the best darlin!

Make a Difference

Unless you were just born or have been living under a rock you are aware of the fact that poverty is a serious issue affecting individuals across the globe . It's easy to say that you are concerned but whether you choose to take action to try and make a difference is another story.

I'll admit that I'm guilty of talking the talk and not walking the walk. Yes I want to make a difference but I really don't do much to actually make this happen. I donate food to my local food bank, I donate small amounts of money when people ask for my support for one fundraiser or another, I toss change into an open palm every now and then, and I've talked about volunteering (talked being the key word). I know I should find some time to help out with those less fortunate but I'm greedy when it comes to my free time because I have so little of it.

Basically what I'm sheepishly admitting is that I want to find a way to contribute to change without leaving my couch. It just so happens that I have found one way to do this: Kiva.

"Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world." What better way to help people than to help them help themselves.

Please take a moment to visit Kiva's site and consider loaning some cash to someone who needs a little help. You can contribute to change without even leaving your living room.

Bloggers Unite

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

October 15th (that's tomorrow ladies and gentlemen) is Blog Action Day. Watch the video, visit the site and join the world of bloggers in raising awareness about the global issue of poverty.

VOTE!

originally uploaded by skippyjon

October 14th is election day in Canada so get out there and vote people. You have no right to bitch about Bush-loving Harper unless you cast a vote.

If you haven't registered to vote it's not too late. Head to your nearest polling station tomorrow and bring along government issued photo ID or two pieces of ID (one with your name and address and another with your name and signature), you can register right then and there.

This is...my current reading material.

Photo credits: 1. Water for Elephants, 2. { ضريبـة النجـاح , !, 3. Love.Twilight., 4. Vintage Munchkin

I'm usually a one-book-at-a-time sort of girl but lately I've been reading multiple books at once; it seems to be working for me.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a phenomenal read, one of those books you pick up and can't put down. I read it while applying my make-up in the morning (no easy task), eating, and cooking mostly. Awesome read. Thanks to Reebs and her books club for recommending this one.

Textbooks, textbooks and more textbooks. My bachelor of ed. program forces encourages me to read a zillion pages of material on a daily basis: teaching math, literature and science; child psychology; curriculum documents for all eight subjects; how to create an equitable environment; teaching ELL and MORE! Don't get me wrong, it's all good stuff but there is just no way it's all going to stick in my brain. At least I'll know where to locate the info when a time that I need it comes along.

Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series is one that my friend Jackie introduced to me while I was visiting her in August. Vampires and werewolves?! I'm in. I've always had a thing for vampires. I just finished reading the second book in the series and can't wait to get my paws on the third.

Goggles by Ezra Jack Keats is a children's book that I am using this week for shared reading with my 3/4 class. Would I recommend it? Probably not but it works well for my purposes.

In the next couple weeks I intend to read A Venetian Affair by Andrea Di Robilant and the classic Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I'll be sure to post my thoughts on both.

Thanks to My Champagne Dreams (a fabulous blog that I had never visited until now; I'll be sure to return) for choosing the theme for "This is..." this week.

Still Going Strong

I'm sorry this is so late mom and dad. October 6th was a very special day; 36 years of marriage deserves to be recognized and celebrated. You are my inspiration, I love you both with all of my heart.

Congratulations!!

Your Heart Be Held With Tenderness originally uploaded by Imagemakercan

RIP Henry

I have one full belly.

Dinner at the Charcoal last night to celebrate my beautiful Aunt Sue's 50th birthday followed by Thanksgiving dinner number one tonight at Joanne and Paul's. I'm mega stuffed.

Joanne and Paul named the bird Henry. His full name was *drum roll please* Henry the 8. Get it?

Photo full belly originally uploaded by pinkorchid_too

Bring on the Birds

It is almost a guarantee that come Monday I will be in a self-induced turkey coma so if I skip a day of Blogtoberfest you can blame it on the birds. Yep it's that time again, Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.

Turkey, and stuffing and gravy OH MY!

Photo Talking Turkey originally uploaded by ReyGuy

Tanya ZipIt

A new ZipIt has been added to the shop finally!
A pouch covered in little Russian nesting dolls named after my lovely Russian girl Tanya! I love this fabric!

I'm a Winner!

Yippee for me! I can't believe it, I actually won something. This is the beautiful book that I will be receiving in the mail sometime soon:

Talk about a flashback.

Mega thanks from me to Scribbler at Vintage Kids' Books for the fabulous giveaway. Be sure to stop by her blog if you are a children;s book lover - she blogs about the most wonderful books on a daily basis and the giveaways are an extra added bonus!

Pottery Sale!

Looking for beautiful handmade Christmas gifts? After you visit Gingham Skies and Eterknity you might want to think about checking out the Waterloo Potters Workshop Fall Sale! I'm posting this early so that you can mark the date on your calendar - I'll be sure to post again closer to the actual sale. The sale takes place on November 14, 15 and 16th at RIM Park on University Avenue in Waterloo, Ontario. Check out WPW's website for the specifics.

Here are a few of the lovely bits shown on the WPW site; you might be able to get your paws on these at the sale.

A Teacher in the Making

Today was the first day of my two week block practicum and I survived to tell the tale. I'm in a grade 3/4 split class led by a phenomenal teacher. For the next two weeks I'll be teaching up to 25% of the lessons each day. My lesson plan for Writing today was B-O-R-I-N-G but I made it through the introduction to leads and I'm fairly certain the kidlets now understand what the elements of a good lead are. I know they're permanently etched into my brain after hearing them a zillion times in 40 minutes. Tomorrow's lesson will help me to assess whether the little monkeys really grasped what was drilled into their little beans today.

A few key things I learned from day one of teaching: avoid delivering mega dry lessons if at all possible; creating examples of written work on the spot with the help of 20 eight and nine year olds is more difficult than one might think; tell volunteers what they're volunteering for before selecting them or you might end up with a child looking totally stunned and uncomfortable in front of their peers (thankfully I thought quickly and fixed this scenario before any permanent damage was done); when you've run out of time but still have kids who want to share their thoughts have them turn to an elbow partner for ten seconds of sharing, if you don't do this you may have what appears to be a deflated child on your hands. Oh and just to ease your concerns: no children were harmed during the delivery or this lesson.

Wasting Time While Time Warping

Looking for a way to waste some time while having a good laugh? Yearbook yourself over here.
The couple up above is me in 1968 and Mike in 1984. Check out those locks... hot hot hot. Thanks to my favourite blog How About Orange... for sharing this super fun time waster.

This is my favourtie kitchen tool.

I am just as in love with my KitchenAid mixer today as I was in high school when I first discovered her existence. I know that sounds ridiculous but seriously, I love my mixer.


I remember telling my mom that I wanted a KA as a wedding gift when I was still a teen. There was no groom in sight but I had figured that marriage was a sure fire way of getting my hands on the mixer - don't worry Mike, the mixer wasn't my only reason for marrying you. Sure enough I received a KA of my own as a gift from my mom and a few other family members at my wedding shower. Needless to say I was a very happy bride-to-be. I could go on and on about that yummy bits my mixer has helped me create but I think I've said enough, I'm sure you get my point: I love my KA mixer, she is without a doubt my favourite kitchen tool.

Thanks to Handmaiden for this week's "This is..." theme, an opportunity to brag about one's KitchenAid mixer should always be taken seriously.

Thinking Christmas

I can't believe I'm admitting this but I've had Christmas on the brain for the last few days. I know, I know, don't rush it. I blame it on my mom, Christmas is her holiday and her enthusiasm for it has rubbed off on me. In honor of my festive thoughts I popped over to Etsy to see what I could find that is Christmas themed and I thought I would share one of my favourite finds.

d'Pholk Designs has a beautiful selection of fused glass art in their Etsy shop: pendants, bowls, christmas decorations and more.

I have a thing for stars and this lovely fused glass star in green could be hung all year round. Too early to think of Christmas? Consider it for a birthday or a 'just because' gift.

Will Uncle Hans Join Blogtoberfest?

I don't know if you'll see any posts from Uncle Hans but I have decided to honor my hometown Oktoberfest boozefest in a less toxic way by joining in Big Cat Emporium's Blogtoberfest! Thanks to Two Peas in a Pod for sharing the idea.

Basically taking part in Blogtoberfest means intending to post on a daily basis throughout the month of October - there are also art swaps and giveaways involved and I do intend to host a giveaway here too! It won't be for a couple of weeks but I promise to do so before the month is up. Gingham Skies will have a little something to pass along - hopefully this will encourage some of you lurkers to post comments.

Feel like a challenge? Why not join in the Blogtoberfest fun, there's less chance of suffering from a hangover with this festival.

Two Blogs Too Many?

It seems I'm having a difficult time keeping up with two blogs. I think I might have to dismantle Gingham Skies at least temporarily. Not the business, just the blog. The other option is to move Jabbering Jaime over to Gingham Skies but I'm really not liking that idea. Of course I could simply change my blog name to Gingham Skies but keep the blog address as jabberingjaime.blogspot.com but maybe that would be confusing. The other option is to simply direct any traffic from Gingham Skies over here to JJ and leave everything as is. Argh. What to do. Any suggestions ladies and gentlemen?

Gimme Gimme Gimme!

Tell me these aren't the most adorable little magnets you've ever seen? They look super easy to make and guess what, there's a tutorial available at Angry Chicken. Christmas gift toppers maybe? Moms and sisters (including my sisters from another mister) wipe this post from your memory.