January 2010 - Page 3 of 3

Calling All Stylistas

January 9, 2010 By Paola 2 Comments

While we’re in a photography frame of mind, I just wanted to highlight Holly Decor8’s Interior Styling group over on Flickr. She also talks more about it here. It’s a place to post up any pictures of corners of your home that you’ve styled and photographed and is hugely inspirational.

Anyone can join the group, and it includes some professional stylists, though be aware that Holly is curating the pool quite strictly and also making sure that images reflect her own particular aesthetic, which of course might not be yours.

Holly is also posting up a styling challenge every month which I’m hoping to do. January’s challenge is already up for the group, so make your way over there to check it out. I’ll post up my offering when it’s done.

Do let me know if you’re also going to take part. I’d love to see what you come up with.

Too Incredibly Cool

January 7, 2010 By Paola 2 Comments

parkour motion reel from saggyarmpit on Vimeo.

I like the music as well.

Today I Am Mostly…

January 7, 2010 By Paola 4 Comments

…watching the sunrise

Do you remember a couple of Januarys ago I started a photoblog called Today I Am Mostly? I didn’t have enough time then to keep it going then, but I’ve missed doing it so much.

This year I’m determined to really work on my photography and photo styling, so I thought it might be a good idea to revive TIAM. I’m not going to commit to every day, but I’m hoping to post two or three photos every week throughout the year. I’ll post them on ‘mirrormirror’ and also to www.todayiammostly.com and to my Flickr page f you want some unadulterated eye candy.

I’ve also retrospectively published a picture here.

A New Me – January 2010

January 7, 2010 By Paola 9 Comments

November December January

Not sure what these pictures prove except that I need to wash my hair. It looks like I’m a little blurrier round the post-Christmas edges but not by too much.

Well, last month was a DISASTER.

I got sick with the mother of all colds and felt absolutely dreadful in the run-up to Christmas and couldn’t move without exploding into a hacking heap of mucus. And what with mirrormirror busyness in the run up to Christmas and the Minx and the Husband being sick and getting under my feet, I think I’ve managed about five days of exercise in the past month.

And of course on top of that was all the Christmas food and alcohol and candy and parties and chocolate and entertaining and comfort eating because I was miserable with my cold and PORK PIE from the British shop in Vancouver etc. etc. And yes, I do know these are all excuses.

So I was absolutely terrified to step on the scale this morning, and seriously considered skipping a month. Instead, knowing how heartbroken you would all be if I did, I took my courage in both hands.

And the scales said 172 pounds (12 stone 4lbs) AGAIN. Which makes this the first Christmas since I was about three I think that I haven’t put on a ton of weight. Which I actually consider to be a bit of a result, as I was convinced I had put on around 5lbs.

Anyway, this unexpected semi-good news has boosted my morale enormously and I’ve managed to get back into my exercise regime as of Monday. As well as Wii-based strength training and Cardio Coach rowing I did my first ‘Couch to 5k’ Podcast this morning. These podcasts are designed to be used with Cool Running.com’s Couch to 5k regime, which if you do it 3 times a week over a period of 9 weeks, gently eases you, through a combination of walking and jogging, into being able to run a 5k.

Just think, by mid-March I should be able to run 5k in 30 minutes, which, if you saw me creeping along the Burke-Gilman trail like a geriatric buffalo this morning, is a little hard to believe. I like the podcasts as they eliminate all need to time yourself with a stop watch or anything – you just follow the recorded instructions -and I like bouncy the techno-dance music which keeps me motivated. I started using them last summer but had to give up after two weeks because of crippling plantar fasciitis. My foot is feeling a lot better now, but I’ll be doing lots of my plantar fasciitis stretches (pulling my toes up and back towards my shins) to make sure.

Does anyone else what to ‘Couch to 5k’ Along with me? I promise you couldn’t be a worse runner than me IF YOU TRIED.

Nook Review

January 7, 2010 By Paola 11 Comments

So this year I decided to ask for the new Nook e-reader from Barnes & Noble as my Christmas present. I’ve been avidly using both Amazon’s Kindle for iPhone app and Barnes & Noble’s E-reader iPhone app (both available for free) and decided it was about time I got the real thing.

After reading many reviews we decided to go for the Nook rather than the Kindle 2, though it was a bit of a gamble as the Nook is brand new and was only delivered to stores just before Christmas so it was impossible to do any sort of real-life comparison.

I chose the Nook mainly because a) it wasn’t Amazon, with whom I have a love/hate relationship b) its Android operating platform allows for future software updates which means it can be upgraded without buying a new machine c) it allows you to ‘lend’ books out to someone else (though only for two weeks) d) it reads PDFs, which will be great for knitting patterns and other stuff. Synching with the Barnes & Nobel iPhone e-reader is apparently coming soon, and will be delivered via a software update.

I don’t have a Kindle 2, so can’t compare it with that, but I can compare it with er, an actual book. And so far I’ve been very pleasantly surprised.

The Nook screen comes in two parts. The upper ‘e-ink’ screen which is where you do your actual reading and a colour touch-screen below which is where you navigate. To ‘turn the page’ you push small buttons on the sides. There has been some grumbling online about how slow everything but this was apparently solved by a software upgrade that was waiting for me when I unpacked my Nook. Certainly I have no complaints. The touch screen is pretty good, though not quite as responsive as the iPhone and ‘page-turning’ is MUCH quicker than turning the page on an actual book.

The grey e-ink screen is at first somewhat disappointing for someone who is used to spending all day gazing at a bright computer or iPhone screen, but it is designed to be easy on the eyes, easy to read and economical on battery life. I have to admit that when I’m reading it I sometimes forget that I’m not actually reading a real book – I’ve even caught my eyes wandering to the left to see what’s on the ‘other page’.

Another huge advantage is the size and weight. It’s about the same size and weight as a small old-fashioned cloth-covered hardback (an illusion which is also fostered by the cheap cloth-covered cover we gt for it). I like to read in bed and it’s really easy and manageable, moreso than the actual book would be – I’m currently reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, which apparently clocks in at 560 pages and 1.9lbs in real life.

In short, I’m a complete bookworm and I’m sold.

Today I Am Mostly

January 5, 2010 By Paola Leave a Comment

…taking down the Christmas tree

Not the best picture, but this was my first time experimenting with bokeh lights, so I was quite proud…

And…relax…

January 4, 2010 By Paola 5 Comments

They’ve gone. This morning the Minx and the Husband left brandishing brand new light-up shoes, a brand new and utterly hideous Ariel backpack and a brand new Hello Kitty umbrella (and that was just the Husband haha!) and a soft quietness descended over the house.

Apologies for the longer than anticipated blogging hiatus. Our first Christmas in North America has been hectic, sociable and, as the Minx would say, extremically very fun.

I’m currently in the middle of setting up the mirrormirror sale, so here’s a quick peek of what we were doing on Christmas morning instead of going to the pub. More substantive blogging tomorrow.

Yes, my lovelies, your eyes are not deceiving you, this is me, not Angelina Jolie, whizzing through the trees

Not nervous in the slightest. Oh no.

Here’s the Husband showing off

And here are some more images from our amazing morning in the Whistler tree canopy.

Yes I really did zoom down there

I’m somewhat scared of heights, so my emotions on Christmas morning ran the gamut between extreme terror and extreme thankfulness that I was still alive. And not a drop of alcohol in sight.

Thanks Ziptrek Ecotours!