Where's the Summer Going?

This past week sort of went by in a flash but I feel like I didn't get a lot of work done. Don't you hate that? Here's the latest portrait that I've been working on. It's nearly finished.

Tuesday was a busy day of sorts, but that day turned out to be an "errand day", aka. no work was done. Sigh. First, I met with our new cat sitter who will be looking after Suki and Dex while we're away next month. It will be the longest we've left them alone since being in our new place, and also ever. But I think they''ll be in good hands (knock on wood), as Gail already won Suki over with one of the cat toys she brought over and Dex even came out of hiding to check it out.




Later that day, I dropped off some stock at a relatively new store which is appropriately in Toronto's fashion district. The shop was opened by a fellow former designer from this other Queen street gem and her friend. Their shop has been doing alright since their grand opening in March, but they are seeking more independent and local designers. So if any of you are interested, check them out. Happily, I've already sold a couple of things from the limited stock I dropped off.

Right after I left the shop, I ran into another designer from the Collective, and we chatted about blogs, bikes and life in general lately. After parting ways, I ventured into the new Urban Outfitters on Queen St. but wasn't really enamored enough with anything there to shell out $50 on a shirt. I always consider browsing in shops part of market research though. *wink wink* Yeah, that's what I tell myself.

That evening, I was also fortunate to get an email from a customer who bought one of my paintings recently. Turns out she works in the book industry, specifically children's books, and has offered to share valuable information with me since she knows how tough it can be for children's book illustrators to eke out a living. How generous is that?!

This weekend we're planning on taking in the new Batman movie. Although I'm not a huge fan of the movies so far - I always find the casting of Batman to be a bit strange - it will be interesting to see Heath Ledger's performance, there's been so much talk of it being phenomenal.

Spoiled and a bit soiled

To honour the tradition of giving paper on the first wedding anniversary, Matt spoiled me with a three part gift, as he explained it. First, for the mind, I got 2 huge cat books and an issue of Bust magazine. There's also talk of a 2-year subscription to Bust for my birthday. I'm loving the cat books, especially this one which has tons of interesting cat facts and which I think I had recently stumbled upon online but hadn't mentioned to Matt. Some synchronicity perhaps? The other one will be great for photo references and ideas for new art, which was why Matt got it. What a sweetie!

The second part was for the body. I got a package deal for 90 minutes of soothing massage! An hour for my seemingly always aching feet and 30 minutes for the entire body. I'm looking forward to that in the near future!

And last but not least, for the soul, a Curry's gift card. The card itself is not paper, but plastic, but it's close enough. That will definitely come in handy for supplies, especially a new sketchbook.


While I would have loved to spend money on Matt, my bank account is on the lean side these days, so I honoured our anniversary with a handmade gift. I made a little book about our love story up until now, partly inspired by the one by this clever gal, which I could not resist getting.



I think the gift went over well though. My sweetie shed a few tears while reading it, and said it was the best present he's ever gotten. And I didn't even have time to really finish it... I still have to go back and ink all the drawings and lettering too. But here's a little sneak peek of one of the interior spreads.


I was quite impressed with myself that I was able to do all the drawings in one day, sans eraser too. If only I could illustrate other people's books that quickly too.

The rest of yesterday was spent cleaning up a bit around our place, as the night before we had some flooding from the big sudden storm that hit Toronto and surrounding areas. I didn't snap any photos of the soggy mess, as I was too busy cursing and mopping and trying not to cry. At least we didn't get the brunt of the damage since our unit is the third one in from the side of the building. The other two units had water all over their lower level and one of them had hardwood flooring! Yikes! This is the state of our lower level at the moment. Someone came by yesterday morning to remove our baseboards so they could dry out the walls and prevent any mold from growing, but we weren't home when they came back with the fans last night...




... we were out enjoying a dinner down the street, which was only semi-good, I'd say. The salad portion was certainly generous and I had my first Cosmo, a la Sex and the City. For some reason, I think the one they made was a lot stronger than usual, as it was much pinker than red and it only took a sip or two to feel a buzz.


Whatever the case, I had good company and that made the whole day worthwhile.