Apartment-Dwelling K9s

THE ALL ADORABLE FAWN PUG PUPPY

PULI DOG FAMOUS FOR ITS MATTED FUR

    Dogs are great. You know, they're smart, cute and affectionate. The problem is, there is hundreds of breeds of dogs to choose from and they're all so loveable! Apartment-dwelling dogs are usually small to medium sized dogs, and even when you narrow it down to that you have purebreds, mixed-bred hybrid things with cute names that all end in -Poo and toy versions of this and that. 
    Since every responsible dog-owner knows it is unethical to get a dog from a pet store that likely abuses animals in puppy mills (especially in Quebec which has no animal right protection laws and Ontario that has very lax laws) or from puppy mills themselves that disguise themselves as loving breeders (you can usually spot these ones as they usually sell many different breeds of puppies all at once). Even with the small amount of family or professionally bred dogs left, narrowing one little pup is very hard. I have always wanted to adopt a dog who needs a good, loving home but our pound doesn't have smaller dogs!

     My love of dogs began with a friend's chihuahua who became my companion everywhere (and I mean everywhere from dentist appointments to the supermarket). We decided to get a dog, our first dog unknowingly from a pet store when I was too daft to realize what the poor animals went through before they arrived behind the glass stall. I bought a Pomeranian puppy for $800 that looked like an odd, alien cross between a mini Golden Retriever and a long-haired Chihuahua. I had fallen in love with the little guy and knew I had to have him. It was a sickly, puppy mill abused puppy that ended up having many health problems and remained very aloof. 
     For my fiancee's birthday I bought her the most adorable pug puppy in the world from a kindly breeder in the neighbourhood for $550. Our Pug, R, was so sweet and intelligent and well-trained we were so in love and our Pomeranian liked having a playmate. Unfortunately, when we had to leave our old apartment our dogs couldn't come with us and instead reside happily with an elderly, lonely relative who is very appreciative and grateful for the company of our sweet dogs (who we see often).
     It is hard to think of getting another dog after having such wonderful, amazing pets and I cannot imagine a new pet being as personable as our furry Pomeranian or as sweet as our Pug but then again, it's wise to keep an open mind. I know it would be too painful to get another pug or Pomeranian so other breeds I have in mind are:


Komondor
Pumi
Tibetan Terrier 

MY POMERANIAN & MY PUG PUPPY!

 Puli
Chow Chow
Basenji
Kishu (Japanese)
Long hiared Whippet
Portuguese waterdog
Otterhound
Portuguese Podengo
English bulldog
Japanese Spitz
Harrier
Jack Russell
 

Temporary Studio

   My Christmas has been merry thanks to the LL letting me know the Annex digs are ours for keeps, yay! It's a nice little Christmas present I wasn't expecting! The holidays has been a busy and expensive time what with all the gift-giving, driving (gas is $1.115 right now) and all that food so I'm grateful apartment-hunting days are behind me. 
   I did miss the IKEA Half-off sale which is a huge bummer but hey--there's always a good sale for a savvy sale-hunter! And from now until our move in date, we will be too busy to get stuff and probably too broke (thank you, amazing deals at the malls!) :) 
    I'm not worried--that's what improvising is for. We have a futon sofa that is huge and it can double as a bed until we pick up a proper bed at IKEA. The problem is, our bedroom is SO itsy I'm thinking of making that space into an office\wardrobe room and leaving the living-room area open concept with a bed\couch and the TV\office area. It sounds like it likely won't work though but maybe for a month that's what we'll do--while we settle in. 
     The studio idea is fine for now but when guests come they can have the futon when we get the bed for the teeny weeny bedroom. I don't care how small the wee bedroom is because it's a central, fabulous location and a wonderful street and neighbourhood--what's a little sacrifice? I have seen some chic studio apartments and the important part is just having functional stuff for a bit. I still plan to paint as soon as I get in but right now I'm a hoarder--I'm hoarding kitchen appliances, pillows, you-name-it for when we move out so we won't have to get anything but the essentials during that hectic time!

     Happy Holidays!

the Junction

These are just some pics I took of the west Toronto Junction community back in the early fall. :) It is in this up-and-coming cool neighbourhood where you can find the Junction Arts Festival as well as a number of antique furniture shops and one of my favourite cafes, The Beet Organic Cafe. This neighbourhood is one near and dearest to my heart because it is where I grew up and went to school in the earlier half of my life so I have many fond memories. This neighbourhood has helped shaped who I am and it's just a funky, awesome part of the city!

Not only is it a safe neighbourhood, the characteristic 20th Century homes have not been lost to modernizing (yet). Crema Coffee Co. and the vegan cafe Rawlicious can be found in this trendy community, as well as Baan Thai, Rona, Trap Door and Delight. 

NICE TOUCHES

Everybody has a couch and a dresser but it's the way you dress them up that makes them unique. A vase of flowers, some Atlanta Hawks posters or an atlas makes the space unique and turns a house into a home. I was thinking of all the little ways I can make the apartment into a cozy little home. What nice accent pieces would really brighten up a space? I'm guessing my entire childhood teddy bear collection would look tacky but one cute, small bear on a bookcase would be cute and still remind me of the times I used to roll down leafy green, hilly lawns and make gimp bracelets and ice-skate with wobbly knees. What nice accent pieces do you have?

 

No to Bourgeois

I have changed my mind about the neighborhoods I want to reside in. I have crossed off my list Forest Hill and Yonge & Eglinton and in the future, the suburbs because I don't want to live in a materialistic, nose-in-the-air community. I think shuttling your kids in your Range Rover and sporting designer brand names is the epitome of ridiculousness. I would rather live somewhere where everyone is friendly, original, down-to-earth and caring. Who wants to live in an area where you're judged based on the car you drive and how many helpers you have (nanny, cook, gardener, etc)? I don't think there's community in that. The more likely a neighbourhood is branded "prestigious, exclusive" the least likely I'd want to live there. 

The new areas to trump those distinguished, snooty neighborhoods is the Junction and Roncesvalles (aka Roncey). I chose these two neighbourhoods or the area near and between them (like Dupont\Ossington\Davenport\Bathurst) is because I prefer to live in West Toronto than East\North Toronto and directly downtown. I think the city has a lot to offer in terms of diversity, originality and community in the right neighbourhoods. Keeping the ultra-rich in exclusive pockets and the super-poor in others just separates the city and makes it highly unfavourable to live in. I think the mediocre neighbourhoods with a mixture of rich, middle-class and lower-class are the most vibrant and the best example of Toronto's multicultural appeal. 

YAY for the Repeal of DADT!

As a lesbian, this is celebratory news and a gayliday in our city where hundreds of us homos got together to drink, eat cake and cheer on this remarkable fact. It's a step forward towards progress and something we have been watching in the news for some time while biting our nails in nervousness. The news came in last night for me and I had to call all my friends to share in the good news (which they already all knew). I'm always the late one to the party.

Music is the Sound of Life

APARTMENT THERAPY

APARTMENT THERAPY

APARTMENT THERAPY

I know I always touch on music but if you play an actual instrument how do you incorporate that into your home? Do you have a jam station in the corner of your living room set up with drums, guitars and keyboards or a closet where you stuff everything when not in use? Many books suggest hanging your instruments on the wall not only is it an artistic statement piece but it's convenient to keep it off the floor and have more room for pieces of furniture or walk space.

Here's how to hang a guitar on the wall, thanks to http/www.ehow.com
Things you will need: Power drill or Phillips Screw Driver, Guitar hanger or sling with included hardware, a guitar (duh), a wall (duhhh) and some skills. P.S. Hangers generally cost under $15 bucks.

1. You need to measure the bottom of your guitar head to the top of the head and make sure when you install your hanger with enough room for the guitar to hang without the trouble of touching the ceiling. I installed mine about 8 inches down from the ceiling and it worked out perfectly. Measure twice to make sure it's right. Once you have a location to place your hanger place it on the wall and use a pencil to mark the hole locations.

2.Your kit should include a drywall anchors. To install these you simply use your drill tip/screw driver to make a dimple in the drywall where you marked your whole in the previous step. Once you have a dimple you can screw in the anchors. With your anchors in place hold the hanger over the holes and use the included screws to secure your new fancy-amazing guitar hanger to the wall. Apply guitar and PRESTO! One amazing piece of wall art is installed.

And voila--it is finit.

Patterns of Fashion

POP ART FUNKY STYLE

POP ART FUNKY STYLE

Fashion and inteior design go hand in hand like pasta and garlic bread. You won't go to a trendy boutique that is housed in a badly designed store, right? Using your wardrobe as a clue to your interior character helps you understand what style you want.

Stripes are a classic, trendy style.

If you've always been a classic kind of girl going for blue jeans and turtlenecks, a very avant-garde style won't make you feel at home. Likewise, a guy who likes to mix his vintage blazers with designer jeans would benefit from an eclectically furnished home that mirrors his tastes.

The Modern Aspect

The future is here, and if you look behind you long enough, you'll get lost in time with tube televisions and cellphones the size of refrigerators. Everything is thinner, sleeker and more productive than people can ever imagine--and getting better every year. With sleek designs and state-of-the-art technology in our lives now, it's as easy to modernize ourselves as it is to say "Plasma". Well, almost.

Many shops have cool, modern shaped furniture that would make your mind reel. It just seems fitting in your house full of iMacs, Canon DSLRs and iPod Touch's. Nobody wants to sit in a sagging old couch that looks like it belongs in the 1960s while they're updating their Facebook statuses on their wifi from their iPhone 4. Like, FML.

As much as I'm a sucker for antique and shabby chic items, my partner is as apt to go gaga for anything cutting-edge and new. She jumped on the 3D Television bandwagon quicker than Lindsay Lohan can find a bottle of vodka. Of course, buying everything brand-name and advertised just makes you a sucker of the media and capitalism, but she finds pure gluttonous satisfaction in something that is leading-edge. Two toned forks? Yes. Glow-in-the-dark wireless video game accessories? Yes. Shiny TVs for every room---yes. Once you walk in, you'll notice the 40" flatscreen elephant in the room.

But then I realized as I waltzed into a "modern furniture" shop called Modern Furniture Shop in mid-West Toronto that futuristic, contemporary furniture of the latter day can be functional without being ostentatious. I'm afraid my house will look like every Dick, Jane and Bob's across the Western world but perhaps picking unique contemporary pieces can further add to the originality of our abode, highlighting our technologically-addicted generation without reducing ourselves to the carbon-copy status-quo. I rest my case with the further photographs. Thank you, Google.

Fallback

Despite all the tenuous paperwork that went forth, the Annex apartment is not being rented at this point. :( And so....the search continues.

O-Range Ya Glad It's Cheap?

Couches are pricy and a huge investment. But they can make or break your living-room. A drab couch can undermine your greatest efforts to modernize a drab house, and a couch in the wrong colour can wreak havoc on the aesthetic or mood of your humble abode. I found a riveting orange sofa at IKEA with what I see as : mod-artsy potential. Fiancee thought it suited somebody with ADHD in a mental institution who had a bubbly, laugh-when-nobody's-in-the-room personality. Hmmm....Black and gray\tan couches are so overused. How many people do you personally know who have orange couches? Or a mint-green one? Or  one with bubbles all over it? Someone is selling a salmon pink sofa on Kijiji right now as we speak! Salmon pink. How is that for a bold statement? It doesn't say Tuna Time. It says : boldly different. Cheerfully here. Modern but fun. I'm pink and I still think. Something like that. Plus,  the orange couch? It's on sale. 

 

Books

As small as our apartment flat is, I'm adamant to have a thriving bookshelf (which I like to grandly call a library) that I can continue building on. I love buying books. Unlike clothing or meals out, they're investments--something I can read over and over again, reference, or pass on to mini-me's if I chose to procreate (at a much, much later date. I'm enjoying buying the latest technology and having free time to lounge and watch Criminal Minds too much right now!).

I buy more books than I have time to read, but I do plan to read them all. Reading and traveling are my favourite pasttimes, and the only things that seem worth my money other than my fiancee and a pet (we're working on finding a Pomeranian or Boston Terrier for when we move in.). Having a TIND lifestyle makes it easier to do so (Two-Income-No-Dependents demographic). My time is only my time. I work hard, go to college,  enjoy my books, enjoy my technology, drive a car and like to travel. My fiancee bought an iPhone 4 last night, and I have been vocal about how alarmingly quickly technology is moving forward. What will happen to forests and nature and all things small and homely? But then again, the phone offered convenience and paired with her Bluetooth and GPS, makes contacting her at any time possible which I'm grateful for. So I can hardly hate on the iPhone, as I'm playing games on it like a crack addict. I'm partial to my Blackberry Bold but if I had a chance to choose between the newest Blackberry (I think in Canada the latest sensation is the Blackberry Torch...) I'd chose the iPhone4 over it. 

   The bookshelf is a huge deal for me. I think wherever I go in life, I'll lug my books with me. I have books from Grade One. I fondly remember reading Charlotte's Web in Grade 2, buying a copy of the first ever Harry Potter in London, England before my Canadian pals and pouring over The Face on the Milk Carton feverishly when I was twelve (yes, I'm young). I know that the journeys I frequent in books can only be upstaged by those in real-life adventures, but it's not likely I'll run into wizards, kidnappers and talking barn animals in my regular day-to-day life. Each book isn't just merely pulp and ink but an experience that have feelings and emotions attached. I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo right now. At first I thought she was spunky, than I felt pity, than she was my hero and as the story progresses, the emotions and curiosity released are enormous. My fiancee owns probably three or four books, and doesn't understand how I can "waste" a whole Saturday in a cozy chair propped by pillows reading a sensational novel and enjoying a fried egg sandwich. Well, c'est la vie.

Music Is The Heart

   Just as the house makes the home, music is the soundtrack of your life--a cliche that rings true in my particular life. Music can be festive, joyous, healing, calming and romantic or just plain fun. There's a time for jazz music, a time for house music and a time for Christmas carols. Like many people sick of the nail-on-chalkboard music on the radio\TV that is nonsensical they have turned to "real" music, any music that is worth listening to that still makes sense and sounds like, well, music and not the nasally musical of some spoiled Beverly Hills girl's diary. 
    I do not have the time nor the resources to be a music snob. I think their brains operate differently than most peoples, like astronomers or morticians. Perhaps they suffered some emotional trauma as a child and had to come up with varying unique ways to be original and irretrievably cool (the you-can't-find-these-1930s-kicks-"cool" not Abercrombie-Lacoste cool".  Kudos to them. I'm lucky enough to have music snob friends who have a vast library of music from artists I've never heard of. But at social gatherings, the music is being pumped and yes, it sounds good....never mind if it is in Finnish. 

    I bring up music because if music is the soundtrack to our lives, and our best moments in life are spent with family and friends, a great deal of that likely spent in the home; then somehow the home and music should at some point be combined to reflect the taste of the house-dwellers. When I think of the music I enjoy, I picture myself having an Indian sarangi or some original Jimmi Hendrix vinyls or at least a big blunt and a nice drumset. But I don't have any of these things, mostly because all my music is online and is played mostly in the car. There is so much noise in the world and when I come home--I want to relax in SILENCE! But even without music playing, maybe the soundtrack can still be influential.

   Music has largely been influenced by my sister, as much as I regret saying it. I can argue it but the fact is she listens to Deep Dish and so do I. The thing about music is....there isn't enough to have your own exclusive collection! And when I think of the influences of my music tastes, I think in art form and in a way I can apply to the home. I normally drink when I listen to house, or plan to drink later on. So having a beautiful wine collection and vintage spirits as a collage of my amour for liquor and the way house music evolves me, I can relate my alcohol to my house music. When I cook, I play Pavarotti and Charles Aznavour--so I can equate bowls of sumptuous fruit and aged balsamic oils as odes to opera music. 

   When I think of jazz and blues, I think of relaxation. I think of candles, incense, dim lights and dresses. I'm not going to hang full-length gowns all over the living-room but candles and incense I sure can. Perhaps a figurine of a jazz player with a trombone on the mantelpiece is a nice homage to this emotional, deep and personable music that moves even the matter in my bones. When it comes to pop music and top 40s, I think of modernity and pop art and having that around the house is easy, as well as a cool array of Chanel lipsticks and a vintage mirror. It is all about vanity, beauty and everything superficial like Rolls-Royce, the Holiday Inn and all the such. And with the classic rock, a tribute to the Beatles can be found in the room. I'll have to photograph that from all angles for the blog!
(A photograph is on auction so now as we speak, a secret auction so I don't know the price of the signed Beatles photo done Warhol pop-art style). 

Landed Dream Digs

So, viewing of the Annex digs went splendidly well. The neighbourhood\community and surrounded areas are amazing and we have "feel good" vibes about the place. The neighbourhood is borderline Annex\Hillcrest Village and close to Corso Italia and Forest Hill and Mirvish Village and Koreatown. Can you really ask for more? Who can say no to cheap, delicious Korean food? Plus, for the pup we're going to get when we move in --Hillcrest Park is right smackdab there which has a great city skyline view and four tennis courts. Another nearby park has a 24 hour skating rink!
The fab community aside, the actual architecture of the house is fantastic. It's an older house with the homes in the area dating from 1900-1930s. It's a modest neighbourhood wedged inbetween some very ostentatious communities. The house isn't just four boring, plain walls. There's tons of built in cupboards, little wall-spaces I can add decor and big windows with some space for flowers or something nice. The walls are not all one length so I have many different angles to place various things. Though there is a cheap wall shelf hammered carelessly into the walls, I will either rip it out or work around it. 
   I can't wait to paint and transform it from a OK-spot to a very relaxing, mod-artsy chill place. I was daydreaming of the many ways to spruce it up on the pleasant ride home passing all the beautiful Christmas lightings and Italian cafes in Corso Italia. But I was right about one thing--the bedroom is small, very small and I don't mind as I'll be able to get up a lot of creative organization and shelving for clothing\accessories.

IKEA SOLUTIONS TO SMALL SPACE

IKEA IS KNOWN FOR BEING FUNCTIONAL AND AFFORDABLE SO THESE ARE SOME SOLUTIONS I'D LIKELY USE.