eat, hike, snowboard, hike, snowboard,eat, hike, snowboard, onsen, eat, sleep.
Taylor Anne Jessop
My sister is now my guardian angel
Aug 4 1992 ~ Aug 5 2016
Taylor always wanted to ride off into the sunset with her cowboy, and I have been mentally preparing this speech for that day but unfortunately that speech will have to wait for another lifetime.
Taylor is the most encouraging positive person I know. I always admired her ambition and hard work. Her compassion working on the downtown east side is something that only a select few have the love and patience for. Taylor is the most sensitive, loving person with the biggest heart.
She was so full of life and ready for her next chapter that it angers me that she had to leave this world so soon. Her unique weird goofiness is something that her and I cherished and only shared with a select few, and if you were lucky enough to experience that you know how special Taylor really was.
Her favorite thing to do was sing and dance. I remember her slamming the piano closed so she could sing “jesus take the wheel”, at the top of her lungs . Or when she lied on her eye examination because she wanted to wear glasses and the doctor came back saying “well your either lying or legally blind”.
We took a trip to Arizona in the spring and had the most amazing time sitting in the back seat drinking gas station beers while mom and dad would shofar us around... We went out to a country bar and quickly found out that line dancing wouldn’t be so hard if you weren’t 3 sheets to the wind but at least we tried. Lets just say no cowboys wanted to dance with us. These are only a few of so many amazing times I have spent with her.
When my dog passed away she was right there at my side and I thought that was the worst day of my life but it turns out the day I found out you were gone was the worst. My heart is completely broken, I never knew such feelings could exist. I will forever miss you and like my grandma always says time doesn’t heal you just learn to live with it.
Osoyoos
Tofino
The outdoor capital - Squamish -
We decided to try the Sea to Sky gondola hike. We didn't pick the nicest day to do it nor were we prepared. In Jeans, skate shoes, a detour and no water it took us 4 hours to get to the top, soaked and starving we made it to the beautiful view that we couldn't see due to the fog. Made for great photos though.
Mesa Arizona
Snowbirds, desert, cactus and blistering heat is what Mesa, Arizona has to offer, well and a couple of cowboys too. The whole point of this past trip was for my Grandfathers celebration of life. 460 people attended the occasion and it was so beautifully done. He was loved by everyone and will be greatly missed. After the ceremony we headed out to the sticks to The Hitching post. It was something right out of the movies cowboys would ride up on their horses, tie them up, check their guns at the door, have a couple of drinks and ride off into the sunset. I think probably every girls dream, to meet a cowboy and ride off into the sunset.
The Grand Canyon
2 ….. okay it was more like 10 road beers later and we arrived at the Grand Canyon, it was cold! I got my classic photo while pissing the parents off but made my mom come to the edge and see that it wasn’t to bad. We enjoyed the sunset and headed to our hotel to hit the hot tub and of course drink a couple more.
Hoover Dam
We picked up our rental car and off we went toward the Grand Canyon. First stop the hoover dam. Some pretty talented beavers created that thing, I wanted to get the classic feet over the edge photo but the parents definitely weren’t letting that happen.
Las Vegas
Vegas is expensive and is not like how it used to be. We must have picked the week of the nerd convention because there were some interesting people out and about. Partying with the parents was something else, Mom nearly drank us under the table. None of us won any money and gambling is pretty much a joke, so we drank and ate the shittiest food instead.
Cape Town SA
2 flights and 1 disinfectant flight later we landed in Cape Town. Okay first off I'm going to start with what boggles my mind, I travel across the world to one of the most dangerous, highest murder rate capitals in the world and nothing happens, I fly home to Vancouver and within the first 20 mins of being there I get all my bags stolen followed by getting my car sideswiped. Maybe I let my guard down to soon and in my head I'm like 'woo I'm finally home I trust my fellow Canadians' and whammy 100 bad things start happening to me. So here we are, all my amazing photos of the last lag of the trip, gone! Im working with iPhone photos now which I didn't take many of because I had my camera with me most of the time.
We arrived late on Christmas eve and were pretty exhausted from traveling so we kept it mellow. Christmas day was 5 star swell and no one out, including myself. No way I was going out and getting smashed around and probably eaten by a great white. We headed to Cody's Uncle Tim's Place and had a buffet style late lunch. On our way back to Noordhoek we stopped into his Grandmas to wish everyone on his Moms side a Merry Christmas, their whole bry was devoured so we decided to have our own christmas dinner at a restaurant close by in Monkey Valley with an amazing view and sunset.
I pretty much did all the touristy things you can do in Cape town. I went and saw the penguins at Boulders Beach, They were the most fascinating thing I have seen in a while. Wild penguins!! not everyone can say they have seen wild penguins. Two sets of couples decided to go on vacation to Cape Town in the 1980s and there they decided to stay and breed. There is a secret beach which only the locals know of and I was privileged to be taken there. Its a beach where you can swim and get up close to the penguins, I had so many great photos :(. The water was calm and a lot more warmer than other waters around the cape which made it enjoyable to swim.
We also did the classic hike up, across and down Table Mountain, 7 hours later and 2 days of not being able to properly walk but it was worth it. half way down skeleton gorge there is a short 10 min walk to a resevouir which you arnt aloud to swim in but everyone was so we dove in. The water Dyed red from the Fynbos roots that flourish throughout Table Mountain.
With time being so limited we tried to cram the most into the last days we had. I wanted to go on a real safari and what better place to do that than in Africa. We were lucky enough to get a spot at the Aquilla game farm just 2 hours from Cape town. Everywhere was completely booked up because of the holiday season but we managed to sneak in with a last minute cancelation. We raced out there to catch the 4:30 sunset safari. Within the first hour and a half we had seen almost all the animals in the animal kingdom. Our guide pulled up to the top of a hill, told us to get out to stretch our legs and started popping bottles of champaign. Pretty hilarious "safari". After getting us sauced on champs we entered the lions paddock. Thankfully no one was to lit from the bubbles to muster up the courage to try and pet one of the kitties.
Me loving the fact there was champs... Cody not so much.
The rest of the trip consisted of swimming, sun tanning, eating amazing food, drinking delicious cheap wine and relaxing. New Years was a bit of a stretch and neither of us wanted to go out in the first place but ended up going to a friends villa party in Camps bay. It was everything I knew it was going to be. All the hype for brining in the new year with a hangover, I hate New Years and next year i can't wait to just stay home.
Amsterdam
We were sick of taking trains so we decided to hop on a ride share program and hitched a ride with a musician that was playing in Amsterdam for the night. 9€ is a lot better than paying 70€ for the train. No i didn't smoke weed and no I didn't go to Anne Franks house. With the little time we had we just cruised around the city eating and drinking coffee. Due to my bags getting stolen on my arrival to Vancouver, the only photos I have to share are from my cellphone and there are very few. So Bummed out.
the only photo i have of Amsterdam :( so sad
Antwerp
I don't have many photos of Antwerp because we were riding around on bikes and drinking that delicious belguim beer. Gloomy and grey is how Antwerp felt, it seemed to be the quintessential economic hub. There were a ton of architects but maybe it was just the group of people we were hanging around with. The coolest thing I thought was the bicycle elevator that went down 30m to a 502m long tunnel under the river that leads you to a weird ghost town development on the other side of the city.
In Bruges
After paris we did'nt really have any other plans. We were throwing around the thought about renting a car and driving down to Switzerland but that was a bit ambitious. With no idea where to head to next, we decided Bruges after watching the movie In Bruges with Collin Farrell. We arrived at the Bruges train station at about 20:00 to an empty medevil town where we then walked through the narrow cobblestone streets with our suitcases and their squarely wheels. We checked into our hotel and then ventured out into the town. The streets were filled with christmas markets just like every other european city. As we entered the main square the buildings looked like they were made of candy we have arrived in Santas Fortess. The following day we ate classic belguim waffles, drank a couple of belguim beers oh and then saw "christs blood" or whatever.
Paris
For being the most romantic city in the world it didn't seem that way. Dining out in restaurants was probably the most unpleasant thing. The coffee was great but the food not so much, and the typical french attitude really threw it off. Always feeling like we were being judged "stupid americans". Anyways, looking past that and the army guys walking around with huge machine guns the Eiffel Tower was my favourite sight to see - it really is more beautiful in real life. I couldn't get enough of that hunk of metal.
Christmas Away
Merry Christmas to you and all your loved ones.
This year I'm not home for christmas so instead we had an early get together. With a santa gift exchange someone ended up getting a jenga set followed by drinks and great food I made everyone dress up in flannel to take this dorky Christmas photo. So there you have it. Merry Christmas from my kooky family to yours.
London Calling Part ||
The best thing about cruising a city alone is that you can set your own pace, see what you want to see and do what you want to do with no time frame.
The Christmas hustle at the Borough Market
Most people think this is London Bridge but in fact I am taking this photo from London Bridge of The Tower Bridge.
Just me being a tourist after stuffing my face with a meat pie that i got from the Borough Market.
The EGG aka the Gherkin
St.Pauls Cathedral
I thought this was funny. The oldest building with one of the biggest franchise underneath.
London Calling
Like no ones heard that before. After an early Christmas gathering with my family I set off on my trip and landed in London. Here are some photos i took from the first day. I hit big ben twice and quickly realized not only is that big clock amazing in the day light but he's even more handsome at nighttime.
Changing of the Horses Guards
Big Ben
Westminster Abby
Buckingham Palace and the Queen is in the building!
The London Eye
Carnaby Street
Turning the old into the new
Hello everyone,
I have recently inherited a lot of my grandmas old furniture. It is insanely outdated but to the point where it could be cool again. Anyways below I will feature a bunch of photos of how I refurbished/brought modern life back into my Grandmas old French Provincial couch.
I was brainstorming on how I was going to make this couch look cool again. With reupholstering being super expensive, I was thinking and looking at other options. Maybe just get a couple of modern throw pillows but nope, the couch is just way too ugly. My aunt than told me about painting the fabric so I googled and researched about it on the trusty ol' internet. Finally I found some good methods and just went for it.
Above is the outdated couch. I mean some hipsters may think this outdated fabric is cool, to each their own but I'm not down.
Supplies you will need :
- Spray bottle filled with water
- Old Sheet or Plastic to lay on the ground
- 1 gallon of FLAT interior paint in the colour of your choice. I used BEHR - Charcoal $49.99
- 3 bottles of 8oz textile fabric medium $9.94 found at Michaels or Walmart
- Paint brush $5.00
Total : $84.81
1.) Lay your sheet under the piece of furniture you are painting.
2.) Mix 1/3 of the flat interior paint, 1 bottle of textile fabric medium, and a 1 1/2 cup of water. Mix all of these liquids in a bowl. The paint should be the same consistency as a stain. This will help make the paint soak into the fabric.
3.) Using your spray bottle filled with water, spray down your piece of furniture.
4.) Start painting.
Below is a photo of the first coat. As everyone says in their blogs i have read " its going to look uglier before it starts looking good". If you don't plan on painting the wood i would suggest taping it off with painters tape. I knew I was going for the distressed look later so I just slopped it on.
After every coat I let it dry for one full day. I did 3 coats on my couch to fully get the look I wanted. Depending on the colour you choose it may take more or less coats.
Below is a photo after the second coat. Its starting to look a little better folks.
After I let the final 3rd coat dry, the fabric was feeling a little stiff and crunchy from all the paint that was just applied to it. So what I did was get some fine grit sand paper and lightly sanded the fabric. This brought it back to its original softness. I had some left over flat white interior paint from a previous project, and with a semi dry brush (not much paint on the brush) I lightly painted the wood white which gave it a distressed vintage look.
There you have it folks. Here is the finished product with a couple of comfy throw pillows. I am so happy with how it tuned out. My new Shabby Chic French Provincial couch. I hope my step by step instructions were useful for you. Get out there and try it!!!!! Turn something old into something new!
Thanks for viewing :)