After two attempts to buy furniture posted on Craigslist only to have the sellers flake out on us, we decided that in order to preserve our mental health we should just buy new furniture. Trying to chase down furniture through Craigslist is not worth the time and effort. This makes me sad because I really want to buy used furniture. I find it to be not only budget-friendly but also a sustainable and eco-friendly way to furnish your home, and it's important to me to reduce my impact on the environment as much as I can. I've also tried looking through several Salvation Army thrift shops and only have been successful at finding two dressers so far.

Now I'm aware that it's not realistic to get everything we need used, so we did get a few pieces of furniture from Ikea a while ago. But it looks like we'll have to resort to getting more than anticipated. And I can't help but feel guilty whenever I do buy something new. Oh well.

A little while ago I painted our bedroom walls a pale gray-blue. The colour (I'm beginning to develop a habit of spelling words the Canadian way) is cooler than I'd like it to be. Perhaps I'll repaint next spring/summer. I'm such a novice when it comes to choosing paint colours. Whatever I choose never quite meets my expectations. I'm learning a lot through trial and error, so hopefully I'll be better about selecting the right shades in the future.

I finally finished another painting project involving shelves last week. It took a lot longer than I expected. Next up is painting the kitchen. I'm going to paint the walls yellow, which will be a nice break from all the blue I've been using. I've been very drawn to blue lately, but I'm trying not to overdo it.

The Dude brought back Oreo cookies from his trip to California. American Oreos! Yes, they taste differently from the Canadian version. Significantly different. I'm going to savor each one. Mmmm...

While the Dude was in California, I went on a weekend trip to Victoria to visit a girlfriend. She and I browsed through antique shops, went yarn shopping, and ate lots of yummy food. I really like the Victoria restaurant scene.

I just finished reading this book. It's a good intro to the basics of graphic design.

I want to make this sooooo badly.

But I think it's too major for a rental apartment. Plain ol' wall shelves will have to do for now.

Thanksgiving (Canadian that is) snuck up on me this year. A lot of pumpkin pie was consumed this weekend. Yum.

Wow, we've been blessed with extremely gorgeous sunny weather for a while now. We've been so spoiled that when it all goes away and the rains come it's really going to hurt. *sigh*

I ran out of primer this morning and had to dash over to Kerrisdale Lumber, a local building supply store. It's one of my favorite stores in Vancouver, and we live a mere three blocks away from it. I only discovered it this past spring. Now I try not to go there every week (because I end up spending way too much time browsing), but there's always some need to to go to pick up supplies for various projects. The quaint old-time feel of the place has won me over. It's probably the "prettiest" hardware store I've ever been in. Although I love Home Depot very much, Kerrisdale Lumber is fast stealing my heart. Besides, it feels good to support a non-big-box-store hardware retailer.