Summer should start each year with people sharing artistic items that they have discovered and worth sharing. I come to you with two such items.

First item – I give my dear talented aunt full credit for starting to make her own hand-made jewelry, which she is now selling. Really cool stuff – I am attaching a couple of photos of her work. Super proud of her and you can order her bejewels from Etsy through beingadelina.

Second item comes from my mother in law, who on a hot summer day, decided to make home-made raspberry lemon sorbet served in a frozen half lemon! As evidenced below, this treat is much appreciated on a hot and sticky summer day!

Also, stayed tuned later this week, a post on Barcelona will pop up. Happy Sunday everyone xo

Sometimes, somewhere, someone comes along and asks, “would you like to have a drink with me later?” You look at this someone and see a tiny [something], so you accept. The drink turns into long talks about all sorts of subjects, and long talks turn into more drinks, and more drinks ultimately turn into surprisingly dinner dates. Along the course of one week you manage to learn a lot about each other and suddenly this someone turns into someone special, someone that eventually you give your everything to. Pretty uniquely amazing!

Love is…complicated, sad, wonderful, amazing and necessary. It’s hard to define love, so I am not going to try. All I can say is, you just know when the right form of love finds you. You just know.

What is this post about? A celebration and an acknowledgement of the great love I found. This post is for my soon to be other half.

On June 8 wonderful and delightful humans from all over the world will come together to celebrate our love in a charming little town in the south of France called Varennes.

As I write this post I feel a great sense of excitement and anticipation. True, nervousness does surface but the overwhelming feeling of joy quickly takes over. I will be posting documentation/photos after our event.

I raise my glass to you love and toast to us, our health, and happiness. See you on June 8^th as you handsomely stand there taking it all in. Love you. xo

It’s been a long time since the friday findings corner has been tackled, but this week I come with great news and my arms are opened to welcome all you lovely people!

I am super excited and proud to announce artcookery.ca’s next event, happening on Saturday, May 17 – and this time we are taking over the amazing Köllefornia Bar located at Zülpicher Str.37, 50674 Cologne.

We have enrolled artcookery.ca in a wonderful event called Restaurant Day which happens all over the world, and on May 17 we will pop up with an amazing menu featuring Canadian tapas and dessert alongside cocktail pairings. We have also decided to offer the same items for takeout to people walking by. Price details are to follow, but not to worry we are trying to keep costs as low as possible.

This is a great event for people to meet other people. Enjoy great bites. Share cocktails. And simply enjoy life among artsy, beautiful people who have things to say about the world.

I am very excited and I hope to see you all there! And Happy Easter!

Here is the invite, please reserve your spot!

I mentioned in a previous post that soon there will be a new blog feature added on. Sure it took me a bit of time, but art takes time…

Since I have been here in Cologne I figured out that I need to find ways to express myself, so I have started to paint. Now, since I am metamorphosing myself, I am selling a piece (actually, pieces) very dear to me. The new feature of my blog is a shopping cart that allows you wonderful people to buy my paintings through Etsy! I hope my inspiration finds a good home to live in.

Art can be so rewarding and liberating at the same time…

“When it rains it pours” is a saying that can be adapted to describe either negative or positive occurrences in one’s life. I am choosing to write about the latter.

It is true that I have been a bit tardy with my blog posts recently, but here is why.

I am teaching English three times a week to three wonderful humans. Two small adorable kids and an university graduate student. Although every person has their own unique way of learning, the common goal of learning is nevertheless evident when looking at their improvement with each class, which makes me very happy.

Then, of course, I am still learning Deutsch. Believe it or not I have reached B1.1 – yahooooo! Great achievement, however, the great abyss is that the more you learn, the more you discover how much more you have to still learn. This is especially true when learning German. Just when I think I’ve wrapped my head around something, here comes the lingering word “aber”. Oh well, I will have to stick it out as I am sure it will all fall into place eventually.

And lastly, you know the saying, “common goals often bring people together?” Well, I’ve made friends with a wonderful person named Sabrina who has come on board with me to create a food and art concept here in Köln that is completely new. I love new things and I love challenges, and I think we will both have our hands delightfully full with this project. Check it out:  artcookery.ca.

We have our first event to open the spring/summer season the first weekend of April. This concept requires an aesthetic layout, which we will have after our April event. Ah it feels so good to come out of hibernation and be excited about your own oyster project! You can find out more details about our opening event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/544297599016178/

See I told you I had good reasons for being tardy with my posts 🙂

xo muchlove xo

Image credit: © Michel Laflamme

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to be a member of a German-Canadian Association panel which selects German students to go for a three months internship to Canada. What an awesome experience…!

All the students were eager to impress, of course some more than others, and with no doubt a rare bunch which left me feeling pretty good that Canada will soon be receiving such astute individuals. I was simply impressed by some of the students’ knowledge and their command of the English language.

What really struck me about those students was how impressed they were with the concept of Canada for some, and for others knowing the place firsthand and wanting to experience working there. Their idea of Canada seemed super eloquent in comparison to, say, the United States. This was a touchy subject for many when asked: “why do you want to go to Canada instead of somewhere else, like the States?” – their responses in general were an eye opener for me. One, for example, found Canadians way more friendly than our southern neighbours. Although, I must say some students managed to keep their answers quite neutral, by focusing on nature.

Side note, the USA has some pretty awesome natural wonders too, e.g. the Grand Canyon, the Redwood Forest, …

I really loved the students eagerness to explore Canada and some of the students will get some pretty cool internships at the beginning of July spread all over the country – including some in Nunavut!

“Proud to be a Canadian,” is what I thought walking out of the boardroom!!!

I guess a lot of things can affect a person’s way of being in the world but sometimes you can read or discover something that wakes you up. By waking up, I mean seeing things from a fresh perspective – understand something new about yourself or the world you live in. I am always mesmerized how difficult it is to describe a way of being that isn’t relative to a way one is already. My new way of seeing is inspired by a quote I read on a scarf, how fantastic is that for the scarf?

“so fill your head with what’s important and be done with all the rest”

Is it just me or is that quote a never ending battle within the self? And what’s great is it’s printed on a scarf meant to keep you warm. It works; the scarf keeps you warm, while you read the quote over and over until you start to realize that you are getting cold and are in dire need of another scarf, but this time with no words on it.

In light of this quote a new feature will be added to my blog soon, which I am extremely excited about!

Ideas can pop up when you least expect them. Last week when looking at the ‘typisch deutsch?’ exhibit here in Köln (side note: an English language interview with the artist is here), I saw a very nice white bookshelf filled with all kinds of books written by German authors. My mind wandered and then I thought, well we need a bookshelf just like this one at home.

So I decided to set out into the world and find materials to start building my very own white book shelf.

Here are some very important steps to follow, alongside the pictures:

1. Sanding of the boards so that the paint can soak in nicely is key
2. Find a suitable primer for the type of wood or product you are working with. Note that it takes about 6 hours for the primer to dry
3. Once the primer is all dry, I find it best to do all your measuring and the drilling of holes now
4. Then find a paint colour that you like and apply lavishly on your dismembered sides of the shelf
5. Allow all sides to be completely dry – this is where you can test your patience
6. Assemble your shelf – precise measuring really pays off here
7. Hopefully you will have a tiny bit of paint left that you can then apply to the end of the screws so that it looks esthetically pleasing
8. Now your books have a new home!

There are many other variations, but I wanted a simple clean-cut look. One thing to keep in mind is you will need a drill and an equilibrium ruler to make your life a lot easier.

This week the Friday findings corner comes a little late.

Last week I was searching the Interweb and I came across something that I simply must share. This video is extremely well done and kudos to all the people in the video!

http://lilhub.com/you-won-t-be-able-to-stop-watching-this-over-240-incredible-hd-clips

There is also a super inspirational piece that I am attaching below that really blew my mind. Eternal Sea, Eternal Sky is a poetic piece about self-existence and the mundane tasks that humans must perform to feel as though they belong – to feel alive. Naturally a backdrop for such a heavy existential topic would be in the Nevada desert. What does this video make you think of?

http://youtu.be/tkrL7Lnxw0Q?t=1m16s

Next week I hope to be writing and photographing a self made project, which will hopefully be concluded!

I came across something that absolutely needs to be shared. So have you ever travelled somewhere wearing a piece of clothing that basically lets everyone know where you come from? No? Ok, well neither have I…. NOT! The truth is I like what I like, and I simply wear it! Here is a site that specializes in selling Pacific Northwest pieces. I love wearing my red and black plaid lumberjack shirt – absolutely Canadian, and I have been called out by people here in Köln. If anyone would like to indulge in Pacific Northwest attire, which I might add is super cool, please see below:

http://www.davidmorgan.com/

Ever wondered what happens to your brain when you tell a lie?

Here is a thoughtful and engaging link to help dissect our perceived notion about lying. Is it bad or is it good? You can be your own judge:

http://visual.ly/psychology-lying

Lastly, what is the difference between a cookie and a biscuit? Apparently if I read the referenced description it is clear that a cookie is much better off than a biscuit, which may very well be the reason why nowadays the word “cookie” can be readily found.

http://rangspeakyourmind.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/cookie-vs-biscuit-the-american-british-divide/

That’s all from the corner of friday findings, ‘til next friday, and until then be sure to drink lots of water and buy something green.