Woman in Real Life

I didn't do any thrifting at all this week, so I thought I'd share a couple of pics of one of my favourite vases. I bought this large, grey vase years ago from an antique store on Locke Street in Hamilton, Ontario. It says W. Germany on the bottom, which I thought was kind of cool. I also liked the battle scenes - of horses, shields and arrows - depicted on the sides. Beyond that, I don't know anything about this vase.

STYLISH VEGAN HANDBAGS

Pixie Mood

Need a holiday gift idea for a friend, wife, mother (or how about a treat for yourself)? You can't go wrong with a stylish handbag. Especially if the bag was made without harming our animal friends. Pixie Mood is a vegan-friendly, Canadian accessories brand whose products are made with cruelty-free materials such as cotton, canvas, sequins, vegan leather, polyester, straw, cork, faux 
suede, faux wool, wool-less felt and jute. Pixie Mood makes use of Polyurethane (PU-leather), which is higher quality and has less environmental impact than other synthetic leathers like vinyl or PVC.

Meal planning for the week on Sunday is always a great idea. It means you still have groceries and ideas by the time Wednesday roles around. What's even better? Actually making your meals for the week ahead of time! While it can't always be done (busy weekends and all), it means a beautifully easy week if you prepare at least a couple of your dinners on the weekend.

This weekend was a bit of a party weekend for us - more about the wine, beer and good company than the food. Our friends had a holiday party on Saturday night. Our kind host is a wine enthusiast, so I brought along this lovely bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from PondView Estate Winery, a family-owned winery in the Niagara Region.

By now most of us are aware that quinoa is a superfood. It is one of the plant world's few complete proteins, providing all of the essential amino acids that your body requires. It's versatile too - it can be used in place of grains like rice or millet, in spite of the fact that quinoa is actually a seed, a pseudo-cereal that is eaten and cooked like a grain.

But how often do you use quinoa in your daily life and in how many ways? I tend to have it only about once or twice a month and I usually use it as a base for a stir-fry or as a simple side dish. Enter The Vegetarian's Complete Quinoa Cookbook. With this book, we can now use our favourite power food in 130 recipes that take us right through from breakfast to dinner and beyond to dessert (yes, quinoa desserts!).

Here is the final pair of items I found at Goodwill on my last visit. I discovered two pieces of blue pottery, marked Arden Pottery. According to this page, the pottery comes from Arden, Ontario, a picturesque village on Big Clear Lake. My favourite piece is this candle holder, probably because it has a clear use and the light shines nicely through the holes.

I'm officially a dog fostering failure. And this is one instance where I'm happy to fail. When I decided to foster a dog, everybody told me I would want to keep him. But I insisted I could help more dogs by allowing them to move on to other homes.

It turns out my friends and family knew me best. I took one look at sweet little Ace and I fell in love. I defy you to see him and not want to take him home with you. He is that cute. Ace was abandoned, sad and afraid when Our Angels Dog Rescue pulled him out of a pound in Kentucky. (Yes, our little guy is American.) The family who nurtured him before he came to Canada says that he was the most fearful dog they had helped this year. And they have helped lots of dogs.