a new obsession

I first saw this idea over a year ago over at Sassy Monkey Reads. She'd posted an amazing picture of a weekend project she'd just completed (click to go see for yourself). I was delighted with the end result, but never really considered a similar undertaking. 

It seemed waaaay too contrary my Type A personality way of organizing and arranging things... 

But it looked so pretty! 

No, I told myself, I'd never be able to find anything... 

My kids would wreck it...

But... soooo pretty!

Then, not surprising, I did nothing. But I never forgot that picture. And last week when I decided to do a search on Flickr for "rainbow books", the same smile spread across my face. As I spent the better part of 30 minutes clicking through image after image of books arranged by colour, it became impossible to resist. I mean, just look at these:

1. Camdyn's colorful bookshelf!, 2. New library, 3. Rainbow, 4. Bedroom book rainbow, 5. Rainbow of Books (Explore #93)., 6. Rainbow Books

Amazing, right? So. Much. Better. So much better than books arranged by author or subject or simply by height *yawn*. I think every room can be improved with the presence of a rainbow. The colours are so bright and fun and cheerful. Dewey Decimal who??

At first, I wasn't sure we had enough colourful books to even make a rainbow. There was a lot of white and pale yellow, not much pink or purple (not surprising) and lots of blue (also not surprising). What did surprise me is that we only have one (one!) orange book*. I mean really orange. ORANGE IS MY FAVOURITE COLOUR. 

Speaking of colour, sorry about these pictures... A good reminder before my photo session this afternoon TO ALWAYS CHECK MY SETTINGS BEFORE SHOOTING. Ah well, these pictures will do for now. I'll take some more after we paint the walls grey and the shelf itself white. The antique dresser next to the shelf will also be getting a fresh coat of paint.

(Yes, that lamp shade is broken (thanks boys). And yes, those are knitting needles** sticking up out of those lovely alabaster... vases? jars? candle holders?... lovely nonetheless. Peter's parents bring them to us from Egypt.) 

So. What do you think? Peter thinks I'm a bit crazy, but thankfully he's used to it/me by now. I happen to love it. I smile every time I look at the bookshelf (and can't wait to tackle the big shelf in our bedroom and the two full shelves in the boys room).

* It's George Orwell's Animal Farm. That tiny one right in the middle of the top shelf, between Ewan McGregor's Long Way Down and Ayittey's Africa in Chaos.

** I taught myself to knit over Lent! I've actually made some things too! Another post I haven't gotten around to writing yet...

(I'm working on a page to show where this post is linked to. I'll be back! Promise! My kids need lunch now though... how annoying. *wink*)

heeeeere, piggy piggy!

And now for something non-Flip related, I just saw the following comic posted on Twitter,

hahaha, toooooo FUNNY! (thanks, Candace, for posting this)

We have so far, as of time of posting, avoided the "flu-that-shall-not-be-named" (as referred to by fellow blogger Lynn*). I'm not sure if this is due to our vitamin D intake (which I do intend to write more about soon) or if it's thanks to us being constantly holed up inside our house homeschooling or just luck. I'm thankful that we've remain healthy so far, but am really not too worried about it if we do get it (but that IS NOT A CHALLENGE, Mr. Flu!). I know that some of my bloggy friends and some of my real life friends have had it, so hope that everyone is starting to feel better.

*You should all go read Lynn's blog. It's funny, entertaining, and really well written. One of my top five favorite reads.

bolo

Last night I attended the first (annual??) Blog Out Loud Ottawa event at Raw Sugar Cafe. The evening was the brainchild of, and was organized by, Lynn of Turtlehead. I wasn't sure what to expect, but will say that I had THE BEST TIME. Seriously. I felt all giddy on my drive home.

(Although the two iced coffees I threw back might have had something to do with it. It seems that I don't handle caffeine well seeing as I was up until 3:30am and, even when I did go to bed, I was awake until 4:30am. Lesson learned. If I drink coffee, it'll have to be before supper.)

I'd hoped to arrive at Raw Sugar Cafe before 6:30pm, but didn't walk in until just after 7pm. I was worried that the other bloggers I know (ie. had met ONCE before) would have already found seats and I'd be left standing awkwardly by the table, desperately waiting for an invite to sit down, all the while having flashbacks of junior high.

Thankfully, my fragile ego need not suffer long. As I found the few faces in the crowd that were familiar to me and approached the table, a chair was quickly pulled up and space made for me. I spent the evening sitting and chatting with Andrea, Dani, Anna, Lauren, and Chantal. Mommy bloggers unite!

I also had the chance to meet several others whose blogs I've just recently found. XUP (pronounced like zoup or, as is my preference, X-U-P) was nothing like how I'd pictured her, yet also more than how I'd pictured her. Her story was captivating, funny and wistful. Her reading, with just a hint of a drawl, was full of sweet nostalgia. One of my favorites.

Another reading I loved was a short and sweet piece by Woodsy from Coloured Marbles. As soon as she read the title, 10,000 Pieces of Lego, I knew I'd be able to relate. Being the mother of three young boys -and also the owner of copious amounts of Lego- I am extremely familiar with the sound of rustling Lego. Woodsy (whose self and blog were both new to me) seemed lovely. Soft yet strong, earthy and elegant.

Another highlight of my night was meeting and chatting with Kym from Relishing and Circumnavigating. I only found her blogs this week when Lynn linked to her site from the BOLO blog, and I am so, so glad for it. Kym's personal site is full of recipes, talk of Ottawa, and amazing fashion. There are almost always pictures of her gorgeous, fun, unique clothes. Her sense of style is well worth the visit to her blog, but more than that she's a beautiful writer. Her description of the trip she and her husband's took around the global chokes me up at almost every sentence. I've read it four times in as many days. Her writing is moving, lilting, and haunting. Like magic. MAGIC. (Kym, are you blushing?)

Did I mention that she's also tall? Cause she's TALL. And her husband is TALL. And their friends are TALL. During one of the breaks I was standing near the entrance talking to three of them and feeling decidedly like a little midget. A midget mommy-blogger. Seriously. If Kym and I were characters from Lord of the Rings, she'd be an elven princess and I'd be a hobbit. Or a dwarf. Need a visual?

That's Kym on the left and me on the right.

(Now, NO ONE FREAK OUT. That's not how I see myself. There's a shocking lack of pictures that match the search terms "female dwarf", "dwarf woman", "female hobbit", "hobbit girl", etc. I've seen a few too many sexy dwarf anime avitars tonight, thankyouverymuch.)

In addition to readings from a dozen or so bloggers, there was also a space for local photobloggers (or bloggers who take pictures, a la me) to display their work. I spent many hours trawling the depths of my photo files, looking for pictures worthy of being shown. In the end, I managed to put together an album with 77 images. It was actually very satisfying to leaf through the pages once filled. Others must have liked it too as I had two requests for business cards.

Who me? Business cards?? Reeeeally?! Moo Cards here I come! (Thanks for the recommendations, Andrea and Dani!)

In summary, it was a lovely, fun, entertaining, coffee-filled evening. Another huge, HUGE thank you to Lynn.

ETA: I'm re-reading this four days later and just corrected no fewer than 10 typos or other errors. Apologies to all who suffered through the poorly edited version.

good reads

This list is an on-going work in progress. It's the list of blogs that I enjoy frequenting on a regular basis. I love that I've found so many other great Ottawa and Canadian bloggers. This is a vast country full of talented moms and writers. Hopefully you'll see some old favorites and also find some new gems to add to your readers.

Ottawa-area Blogs

A little bit of Momsense

a peek inside the fishbowl

Postcards from the Mothership

Life is Good at the Beach

A Crafty Mom's Blog

Turtlehead

Two Hands Full

Loulou's View



Canadian Blogs
(someday when I'm avoiding cleaning I have nothing better to do,
I'll put these in order from West to East)

Attack of the Redneck Mommy
near Edmonton, AB

Canada Mom Blogs
all over Canada

Chaos Theory
Montreal, QC

Dutch Blitz
somewhere in beautiful BC (help?)

Frog and Toad Are Still Friends
Northern Ontario

Her Bad Mother
Toronto, ON

I wanna talk about me!
Winnipeg, MB

Kami's Khlopchyk
Regina, SK

Life Candy
Winnipeg, MB

motherbumper
Toronto, ON

playdate
colaboration

Simply Sara
Calgary, AB

sweet salty
Halifax, NS

the real life home
Guelph, ON

Where am I going... and why am I in this handbag?
near Toronto, ON

Whiskey in My Sippy Cup
Vancouver, BC

Still to come, my favorite crafting and cooking blogs, green/frugality blogs and parenting blogs.