flavour of the week: Hands-Free Lunch

July 29, 2010

hands free lunch

Lunch. What to have, when am I going to make it and why does it always interrupt my day? It’s a luxury to work at home but lunch doesn’t make itself.
Hello, hands-free lunch:

1. Throw a roasting pan in the oven with some mushrooms and whatever veggies you have around.
2. Make that phone call.
3. 15 mins later… turn on a pot of water.
4. Back to work.
5. Pick a bunch of swiss chard or spinach and throw it on top of the veggies. Water is boiling, throw in a splash of vinegar and slide in 2 eggs.
6. Toss the veggies, see how many emails you can answer in 2 minutes.
6. Throw it all in a bowl, top with cheese and voila.

Categories: flavor of the week.

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bits & bytes: Stock Photography

July 28, 2010

istock

My clients are usually surprised to find out you can purchase stock photography for under $20. One of the most difficult challenges can be finding imagery or video that both illustrates your business and appeals to your demographic. If you’re creative (c’mon even you can make your own invite or t-shirt design) stock sites are great for textured backgrounds and vector graphics. Here are a few of my faves:

iStockphoto: my most frequent haunt. This was one of the first stock sites I worked with, it’s affordable and easy to use. Sign up, buy stock, sell stock.

Dreamstime: lots of affordable images, I find the interface a little awkward.

Fotolia: stock photos from 14 cents!

Shutter Stock: “the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world”. Thousands of photographs, illustrations, and vectors added every day.

123 Royalty Free: credit packages or subscriptions, similar to iStock.

YouWorkForThem


YouWorkForThem: A collection of artists offer everything from stock images, fonts, videos and audio. Check out their blog for other design inspiration.

Categories: bits & bytes.

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locals only: Monday Nights

July 26, 2010

The Broken Strings play at Darcy’s Pub in Victoria every Monday night. Take the opportunity to view the talent of band members Adam Kittredge, Antonia Freybe-Smith (both of Jet’s Overhead), Ryan Clayton, Tom Salter and Ghosty Boy – for free. Check them out on MySpace.

And the bar is the perfect height for longer exposure shots…

The Broken Strings, July 2010 | photo by BCC

Categories: locals only.

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bits & bytes: Top of the Charts

July 20, 2010

Top of the charts in July 1950 was “Mona Lisa” by Nat King Cole. How very appropriate for my original artistic inspiration’s birthday.

Categories: bits & bytes.

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2 years ago today

July 19, 2010

photos by www.hyperfocus.ca

Categories: eye candy.

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locals only: Taste Victoria

July 15, 2010

Victoria’s second annual festival of food and wine gets underway today. Tonight is an evening of tasting of more than 100 British Columbia wines and local cuisine prepared by top Vancouver Island chefs. The weekend is filled with tempting events including Sips and Seafood Saturday night at the Inn at Laurel Point.

See the Taste website for event info.
Proceeds from Taste go to TLC The Land Conservancy.

from www.victoriataste.com

2010 Participating Wineries:
Alderlea Vineyards
Artisan Sake Maker at Granville Island
Averill Creek Vineyard
Blasted Church Vineyards
Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars
Calona Vineyards
Cherry Point Estate Winery
Deol Estate Winery
Dunham & Froese Estate Winery
Garry Oaks Winery
Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery
Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate
Merridale Ciderworks
Mistaken Identity Vineyard
MooBerry Winery
Mt Boucherie Estate Winery
Muse Winery aka Chalet Estate Winery
Painted Rock Estate Winery
Peller Estates
Red Rooster
Rocky Creek Winery
Salt Spring Island Vineyard
Sandhill
Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse
Seven Stones Winery
Starling Lane Winery
Sumac Ridge Estate Winery
Therapy Vineyards
The View Winery
Venturi Venturi-Schulze Vineyards
Victoria Spirits
Vista D’oro Farms & Winery
8th Generation Vineyard

2010 Participating Restaurants, Artisans & Retailers:
Ambrosia Conference & Event Centre
Amusé Bistro
Antichi Sapori Italian Food Company
Bistro 28
Chateau Victoria, Vista 18
Coast Victoria Harbourside, Blue Crab Bar & Grill
Delta Ocean Pointe, Lure
Fairmont Empress, The Empress Room
Hotel Grand Pacific, The Pacific Restaurant
Inn at Laurel Point, Aura
The Little Piggy
Little Qualicum Cheeseworks
Marina Restaurant
Nautical Nellies
Paprika Bistro
Ristorante La Piola
Salt Spring Island Cheese Co.
Silk Road
Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub

Categories: locals only.

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in the house: Let’s Go Outside!

July 12, 2010

The weather has finally perked up – although we seem to have some 30knot winds at the moment…

Now is the time to think about maxing out on fresh air.

Top to bottom: from www.emmas.blogg.se, www.lonnymag.com, www.richardpowers.co.uk, www.bartmichiels.com

Categories: in the house.

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portfolio: Alberta Inspired

July 8, 2010

I came across this desktop calendar wallpaper today and I was reminded of what inspired me to create this painting. The view from the back seat was just like this. The desktop wallpaper is available for download from Paper Leaf here.

painting by Beth Campbell 2000

from www.paper-leaf.com

Categories: portfolio.

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eye candy: Yacht Design by Claesson Koivisto Rune

July 6, 2010

Today the sun is out and we’re going to *gasp* push past 20 degrees today. I’d like to be on the water on my way to a secluded destination. Have a peek at this 100′ yacht which had an interior overhaul by renowned architects Claesson Koivisto Rune from Stockholm as featured in the July/August edition of Azure magazine. Sleek, minimal and a little retro with walnut and white.

from www.ckr.se

Categories: eye candy.

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on the road: Hotwire in Vancouver

July 5, 2010

This was my first spin at Hotwire. They offer hotels, airfare and car rentals at sell-off prices from various partners. The catch is you’re not made aware of the details (hotel name) before you book and pay other than the general location and star rating. We reserved a room while on the ferry over to Vancouver. They were able to tell us over the phone what hotel we were booking so the thrill was gone but at least I knew where we were headed before I handed over the plastic. The rate was 50% off the advertised nightly rate on the hotel’s website. The Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver is in a great location across from the Four Seasons and the mall. Comforting features of a older hotel with spacious bathrooms, built in cabinetry, contemporary updates and brass adorned elevators encourage me to define this lady as “eclectic European”.

Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver lobby & restaurant - Diva at the Met

guest room at the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver

Categories: on the road.

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happy hour: Canada Day Cocktail

July 2, 2010

Red and white, crisp and not too sweet. Perfect for a summer day. Let’s pretend Canada Day wasn’t 14 degrees and raining shall we?

from www.southernliving.com

Cava Sangria

Yield: Makes 4 1/4 cups

mint leaves
1 bottle sparkling wine, chilled
3/4 cup white grape juice, chilled
1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1/4 cup orange liqueur
* Garnish: fresh sugar cane sticks

Preparation
1. Press mint leaves against sides of a large pitcher with back of a wooden spoon to release flavors. Stir in sparkling wine and next 3 ingredients. Serve immediately over ice.

Categories: happy hour.

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eye candy: Vic Maui Race Start

July 1, 2010

It was a drizzly and slow start to the Vic-Maui International Yacht Race this morning but that didn’t diminish the spectator’s awe as they watched their friends and family set sail for Hawaii. Could you do it?

Sonsie setting sail for Maui - good luck Chris, Kelly, Camilla, Donald, Brent and Serge!

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Categories: eye candy.

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