50 books in 2010 - update 5

Here's how I'm doing so far in my goal to read 50 books this year...

1. The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper, finished January 13

2. The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser, finished February 7

3. Lamb by Christopher Moore, finished February 12

4. The Man Who Ate the World by Jay Rayner, finished February 20

5. There Will be Dragons by John Ringo, finished February 26

6. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory, finished March 2

7. Emerald Sea by John Ringo, finished March 3

8. In a Time of Darkness by John Ringo, finished March 3

9. Against the Tide by John Ringo, finished March 9

10. East of the Sun, West of the Moon, by John Ringo, finished March 15

11. Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith, finished March 15

12. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, finished March 16

13. Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, finished March 18

14. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte, finished March 18

15. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, finished March 24

16. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, finished April 1

17. The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn, finished April 11

18. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, finished April 27

19. Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist, finished May 10

20. The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy, finished May 24

21. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, finished June 5

22. The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, finished June 10

23. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, finished June 15

24. The Queen's Sorrow by Suzannah Dunn, finished June 21

25. Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay, finished July 3

26. The Shadow of the Pomegranate by Jean Plaidy, finished July 25

27. The King's Grey Mare by Rosemary H. Jarman, finished August 13

28. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, finished August 24

29. Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurst, finished September 2

Currently reading:

- The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

- Great Harry by Carolly Erickson

pandacub wants...sherlock holmes (and watson too!)

My husband and I have just finished watching the third episode of the absolutely brilliant Sherlock series starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman (from the British version of The Office) as Watson.

I love reading Sherlock Holmes (my favourite is the Hound of the Baskervilles), and have watched several different interpretations of the characters through the years. This one is a modern take on the characters (Holmes is quite fond of texting and Watson has a blog), it's very well written and acted and I'm quite upset that the first season (or series, as they say in the UK) was only 3 (yes, THREE) episodes long.

But I'm super happy and excited to find out that on Aug 10, they just renewed Sherlock of a second series so there will definitely be more great episodes to come!

In the meantime, I'm browsing Etsy for Sherlock-inspired items.

Top row:
1. Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...mini wooden library book - hand made from scratch...from the elloh public library...one of a kind...keychain or miniature wall art, $24.00 by elloh
2. Sherlock Holmes Tote Bag, $20.00 by chibitoaster
3. Sherlock, $15.00 by boisdarc

Middle row:
4. Sherlock Holmes, 8 x 10 art print, $13.00 by Larriva
5. Sherlock Holmes - 13 inch Version - Macbook Vinyl Decal, $12.00 by TheDarkMonkey
6. Sherlock Holmes, $50.00 by Jtnee

Bottom row:
7. Sherlock Color Graph Afghan pattern, $3.20 by CrochetChest
8. Sherlock Holmes Tie Tack - Come Watson - the Game is afoot, $8.00 by pretentiousjewelry
9. Sherlock - Etching on Clay Brooch, rolled edge setting, $35.00 by Musetypes

wordle wednesday

I've just spent 30 minutes playing with Wordle and I'm addicted. So I've decided to start Wordle Wednesday so that I have an excuse to play with Wordle at least once a week.

A Wordle is "a toy for generating 'word clouds' from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text." I've also noticed that the Wordle also gives prominence to words that have appeared more recently - so I guess I've been talking about Shakespeare a lot lately. LOL

If you click on the image, you can view a larger version so you can read the words more easily.

50 books in 2010 - update 4

Here's how I'm doing so far in my goal to read 50 books this year...

1. The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper, finished January 13

2. The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser, finished February 7

3. Lamb by Christopher Moore, finished February 12

4. The Man Who Ate the World by Jay Rayner, finished February 20

5. There Will be Dragons by John Ringo, finished February 26

6. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory, finished March 2

7. Emerald Sea by John Ringo, finished March 3

8. In a Time of Darkness by John Ringo, finished March 3

9. Against the Tide by John Ringo, finished March 9

10. East of the Sun, West of the Moon, by John Ringo, finished March 15

11. Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith, finished March 15

12. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, finished March 16

13. Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, finished March 18

14. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte, finished March 18

15. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, finished March 24

16. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, finished April 1

17. The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn, finished April 11

18. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, finished April 27

19. Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist, finished May 10

20. The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy, finished May 24

21. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, finished June 5

22. The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, finished June 10

23. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, finished June 15

24. The Queen's Sorrow by Suzannah Dunn, finished June 21

25. Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay, finished July 3

26. The Shadow of the Pomegranate by Jean Plaidy, finished July 25

27. The King's Grey Mare by Rosemary H. Jarman, finished August 13

28. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, finished August 24

Currently reading:

- The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

- Great Harry by Carolly Erickson

hmmm...i think more training is needed

Although my husband and I have been trying to eat healthier for the past couple of years, but every so often we like to cheat a little and be very bad.

One of our weaknesses is McDonald's and so whenever we go, I tend to get a Big Mac. Mmmm, Big Mac.

Anyhow, the last time we went to our local McDonald's, we did the drive-through so didn't see our food until we got home. So when I opened my Big Mac box, this was what was waiting for me:

LOL! The person who put my Big Mac together put both patties on the bottom. Seriously? How hard is it to put together a Big Mac? So basically, I tossed the top bun and turned it into a double cheeseburger.

It's funny, in a really sad sort of way.

pandacub wants...more shakespeare

As I blogged about on Sunday, I was lucky enough to have tickets to watch Christopher Plummer as Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest on Saturday, so I have a little bit of Shakespeare on the brain.

I was never really interested in the Bard in high school (there's something that turns me off whenever I'm "forced" to read something) but now that I'm a little bit older, and wiser, I can definitely appreciate more the witty wordplay and cultural impact of Shakespeare.

Let's see what a search of "Shakespeare" turned up on Etsy...

Top row:
1. Exit pursued by a bear, $1.00 by beanforest
2. Shakespeare Art Taming of the Shrew 8.5 x 11 Print, $18.00 by thedreamygiraffe
3. Shakespeare Smarty Pants Tie, $20.00 by inhope

Middle row:
4. Shakespeare- 8 X 10 Digital Print, $20.00 by Goobeetsa
5. Tempest Journal - Shakespeare Leatherbound Blank Book, $35.00 by immortallongings (this is the second journal that I've bought from immortallongings - they're even more stunning in person!)
6. To Be Or Not To Be, $20.00 by CupcakesAndMace

Bottom row:
7. sterling silver ring engraved Love all,trust a few, do wrong to none. size 6 1/2 (M1/2), $120.00 by pocketfullofpoesy
8. A Plague on All Your Houses Shakespearean Pin Brooch from Hoolala, $4.00 by hoolala
9. William Shakespeare's Hamlet 'To Be Or Not To Be' Brass Cuff, $38.00 by JezebelCharms

brave new world

Yesterday some friends joined me and my husband and we travelled to the lovely town of Stratford a little west of Toronto to check out a play at the Stratford Festival. (Yes, for you Bieber fans out there - this is his hometown).

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival runs from April to November and is very well known around the world for it's productions of Shakespearean plays. The Festival does put on other plays (for example, Peter Pan is currently on right now as well), but Shakepeare's work typically counts for about a quarter of the Festival's offerings.

We were lucky enough to get tickets to see Shakespeare's The Tempest, which is pretty much sold out. It's a popular draw this year because the amazing Christopher Plummer was playing the lead role of Prospero.


Stratford is a sweet little town and obviously, a lot of its economy is based on the Fetival.

Here's the large Festival Hall, one of several theatres that hosts the plays (Festival Hall is the largest one)


This is a metal statue of Shakespeare that stands in the Festival Hall gardens. It's actually a little spooky - it has kind of robotic "Terminator" eyes. haha.


The play itself was truly amazing. I'm not one for plays, but this one was spectacular. Plummer is a powerful presence on stage and I can understand all the acting accolades he's received in his lifetime. What an experience!

tennis, anyone?

I'm not a big tennis fan, but when I was given a pair of tickets to the Rogers Cup tennis tournament here in Toronto, I was excited to go because Roger Federer was playing. Hey, if I'm going to watch my first live tennis match, it may as well be to watch one of the best, right?

The Rogers Cup tournament annually takes place in Toronto and Montreal and alternates every year - this year the men play in Toronto and the women play in Montreal and next year they flip.

Currently ranked number 3 in the world, Roger Federer has won 16 grand slam tournaments (a mens player record) and was playing against Juan Ignacio Chela.

Look at the crowd! I think the stadium was full (it holds 10,500, according to their web site) on a Tuesday night!

Federer won 7-6, 6-3 and I'm now officially a Roger Federer fan. :)

get a free pandacub button headband and 20% off your next purchase!

It's our birthday, but you get the gifts!


Do you own something from pandacub? If so, I need your help! To celebrate the pandacub 2-year anniversary, I'd love to put together a page of fan photos, but I can't do it without your help!

E-mail me a photo of you wearing a pandacub item and receive a free pandacub button headband and 20% off your next purchase! Here's all you need to do:

- email a photo of you wearing something you bought (or received as a gift) from pandacub to pandacubshop@gmail.com. Include your name and full mailing address in your email.

- in return, I'll send you a randomly chosen pandacub button headband and a discount code that gives you 20% off your next purchase from pandacub (each code will be unique and can only be used once)

- The 20% discount will be applied to your entire purchase (not just one item), but will not be applied to shipping costs

Do you own more than one item? You can submit more than one photo! For EACH different item you send me a photo of, you'll get a different code! That means if you send me 5 photos of you wearing 5 different things, you'll get 5 codes to use on 5 future purchases! (Sorry, only one headband per person)

So, what are you waiting for? Grab those digital cameras and get snapping! I can't wait to see your photos!

This offer is available until August 31, 2010.

Please note: by submitting your photos, you give me permission to post them on my blog / Facebook page in order to help promote my shop (I will not post any personal info, but may use your first name to credit who submitted the photo)

Images include a sample of some of the headbands I've made (the one you receive will be randomly chosen and may or may not look like the ones shown in this post).

lotus blossom

More photos from our weekend away - check out the cool lotus blossom that was in the koi goldfish pond in front of the back deck of the cabin.

The evening we arrived the blossom was closed:

And the next morning:

annual weekend away

Every year for the past three years my husband, sister and brother-in-law have spent a weekend at a lovely little bed and breakfast about 1.5 hours outside of Toronto. Besides having the entire cabin to ourselves, the cabin itself is nestled on a conservation area, which includes a 7-hole "natural" golf course and an organic vegetable garden.

We usually spend the entire weekend outside, golfing and relaxing. This year, we had a little "visitor" - one of the farm cats, who has the run of the place, decided to join us for the first couple of holes of golf. She was so cute! She's only a year old and loved dashing after the golf balls and batting them around after they landed. Being a young kitten, she lost interest pretty quickly and would dash off from place to place.

And of course, there were the spectacular breakfasts that we were served each morning!