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!

*cough, cough*

Ugh. If you don't follow me on Twitter, then you probably don't know that I'm really sick. I came down with a sudden flu last Thursday and now it's turned into bronchitis. :(

So please forgive the lack of blog posts while I try to rest and recover. It's taking all my strength just to catch up on emails and my day job responsibilities that whenever I have a spare moment, I'm either sleeping or brewing more tea.

I hope to be back up to semi-regular health by this weekend, which would be great since I have a weekend away planned with my hubby, sister and brother-in-law (hopefully the weather is nice and I'll have some photos to share!)

Stay healthy everyone!

pandacub summer sale

Summer is when pandacub is really in full swing - it's a time when everyone is sporting fresh, fun accessories in lots of bright colours and pandacub is full of affordable, bright pieces that can easily add a little "pop" into your summer wardrobe.

So to celebrate the nice hot summer months, I'm having a summer sale and it's pandacub's biggest sale yet! There are lots of items that are on sale in the pandacub Etsy shop - all items in the summer sale are at least 25% off and many are customer favourites.

This is a great chance for you to stock up on some sweet accessories at great prices.

I'm constantly adding pieces to the summer sale section, so check back often! The sale will end on August 20 (which just happens to be pandacub's 2-year anniversary on Etsy).

unscientific giveaway poll and celebration giveaway update

pandacub is celebrating its second anniversary on August 20 (yes, the store opened on Etsy almost two years ago - how quickly time flies!) and I'm already thinking of a spectacular giveaway to celebrate, but I want your input.

Leave me a comment and help me think up creative ways to hold a giveaway! I need help with two parts:

1. What should people do to be entered? Something simple, like the usual "leave a comment"? Or something more involved?

2. What would you want to win? Would you prefer specific items from the shop? Or a gift certificate so you can choose what you want to get?

The more suggestions, the better, so start those creative thoughts and comments coming!

And an update on my previous giveaway that just ended:

Congratulations to the winner of the celebration giveaway - dhesh!

Dhesh chose the flaunt bobby pins in purple (a very popular choice). They're already made and on their way to South Africa!

pandacub wants...ice cream

Toronto has just gone through a week-long heat wave. And since last winter, when it was -39 degrees C and icy, I vowed never to complain about the heat again, I didn't say one negative thing about the heat. But I did have lots of cold drinks handy!

One thing I didn't have a lot of, and would like more of, is ice cream!

Top row:
1. Crochet Pattern - FRUITY ICE CREAM - Play food, $5.99 by skymagenta
2. Ii is for Ice Cream, $14.00 by ModernPop
3. PDF Printable- Kawaii Pink and Green Ice Cream Trucks, $2.50 by paperglitter

Middle row:
4. Personalized Ice Cream Ice Cream Man Bowls with Handles (set of 4), $55.00 by happiestdaysdesigns
5. Roscata Pastel Ice Cream Cone Purse Charm Bag Charm, $18.00 by roscata
6. Big Scoop, $50.00 by CharleneFreemanArt

Bottom row:
7. Cat Art- Stolen Cone - Print, $18.00 by amberalexander
8. with a cherry on top - 5x7 fine art photograph, $15.00 by heidiherrera
9. Grape and kiwi ice cream cone post earrings, $8.00 by mmagda

super smooth legs and a Skintimate contest!

I hate shaving, but I love having nice smooth legs, especially in the summer. So having a great shaving cream is ultra important as it makes the "chore" of shaving legs a little more bearable.

Skintimate has given me a great gift basket to give away to one lucky reader of my beauty blog that will definitely make shaving a little bit easier to handle!

Want a chance to win the gift basket, which is valued at over $80? Go over to my Cinnamon Kitten beauty blog and enter (sorry, this one's for Canadians only!)

Happy Canada Day!

Yay! I'm so happy to have 4 days off!

Today is Canada Day so I wanted to take this oppportunity to wish all my fellow Canadians a very special (and hopefully fun-filled day!)

I will be spending the day relaxing with my hubby after a very long and hard couple of weeks and am looking forward to doing nothing at all.

How about you? How are you spending the holiday?