A few nights ago the Dude and I went to the CBC studio to watch a friend compete in a radio game show about Canadian trivia. I learned that the province of Newfoundland (oh, excuse me, officially it's Newfoundland and Labrador) has weird town names that sound like sex toys. One of them is actually called Dildo. God, I love this country.

While on the topic of sex...I recently saw the infamous Paris Hilton sex tape. Yeah, it takes a me a while to catch up with pop culture. It was incredibly lame. It shouldn't even be really called a "sex tape" because there is no sex happening at all. It's just her half-naked, prancing around or rolling around in bed showing off her tits. Now I find her even more annoying than ever.

{photo via www.stepback.ca}

My favouritest store in Vancouver, maybe even on this planet, is a vintage home decor store in Kitsilano. It's called Stepback and what I love about the store is how well curated it is. They display their merchandise in such a way that you want to live in the store among all the beautiful vintage things they sell. I bought a few items there for our wedding reception that I still dearly love to this day. Whenever I pass by the store I look into their window and salivate, longing for all that's inside. I dare not go in because it's so hard to resist from buying something. I seriously wish I could live in that store. It's like a brick and mortar version of a fabulous Etsy vintage shop.

And it's the store that inspired me to collect vintage and start an online shop selling what I find on Etsy. I asked one of the owners where they find all their fabulous things and he said that he goes out to the Fraser Valley. I don't have a car so I can't go that far to treasure hunt. But I'm glad that someone's rescuing all this fabulous vintage stuff that would otherwise be discarded. The people at Stepback are very good at cleaning it up and displaying it in such a way that restores it's worth and value, as a result making it desirable to someone who would take it to a good home. Doing this sort of work is both an art and an eco-friendly practice.

Ever since my lactose intolerance got really bad, I've been painfully off ice cream. When I lived in L.A. I used to treat myself to the best vegan ice cream ever at Scoops. It wasn't sorbet. It was a soy-based gelato that was pretty darn close to the real deal. In Vancouver, I've been virtually deprived...until recently. I've modified a recipe for a creamy frozen treat that I got from Alive magazine. It tastes as good as ice cream but it has no dairy! And it's super, super easy to make. And I always have the ingredients on hand.


Chocolate banana peanut butter frozen delight
Makes 6-7 servings

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup of smooth natural peanut butter (I'm sure crunchy is OK too)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 - 4 Tbsp honey (I like it with just 2)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until it becomes a thick liquid. (You can also mash the bananas by hand using a potato masher or a fork first, then mix in the rest of the ingredients).

Prepare a muffin tin by lightly greasing it with vegetable oil. Scoop mixture into each muffin cup. Place in freezer for at least 2 hours. Then enjoy!

This past weekend I made my rounds at estate sales and yard sales as per usual. During each outing I always encounter that one very special find, and this time around it was something very special indeed. I scored at 1947 printing of Dorothy Draper's Decorating is Fun! for 50 measly cents (it was first published in 1939). I mentioned her in a previous blog. Draper's  book is a classic, and as someone who's very into interior design, I'm so stoked to have this book in my possession. The part that tickles me the most is that it still has the Eaton's price sticker on it for $3.49. I'm not planning to sell the book in my vintage shop. This one's for moi.

This camera from my vintage home decor shop, Sugarpush Vintage, was featured in an Etsy blog post today! Check it out. It's chock full of home decor goodies. There are so many amazing vintage pieces being sold on Etsy. Makes me wish I had lots of disposable income so I can hoard all the treasures I find.

Ever since being diagnosed with BPS/IC, I've had to stop drinking coffee and tea. Not drinking the latter has been the hardest. So I'm beginning to look for alternative drinks that don't irritate my bladder. Lately, I've been experimenting with basil tea. Although herbal teas do irritate people with IC, I'm testing if some particular herbs are better than others. I haven't tested the pH level of basil tea, but I'm guessing it's a lot better than drinking something caffeinated.

My recipe for Basil Tea.

Boil 3 cups of water. Steep two teaspoons of dried basil in the hot water for 10 minutes. Discard the herbs. Add honey to taste.

Add additional water until it's at the strength you like. I usually add between 1-2 cups of water. Then I refrigerate to turn it into an iced tea.

Very refreshing. And kind of minty.