Cucumbersome » life

Three Years

britt — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:44:24 +0000

This photo was taken three years ago. That’s a long time. It’s enough time, in fact, to develop a whole secret language made up of inside jokes and song parodies. Ryan is my best friend, my most favorite human, and a better husband than I could have ever imagined. He woke me up this morning with coffee and a cinnamon bun from our favorite coffee shop, and surprised me with tickets to see Sufjan Stevens in October.
It’s turning out to be a wonderful day, actually. We also got to pick this up at Old Faithful (my hint worked):

Actually, my mom decided on it before I even posted that, when she was down visiting. She called them up and got them to set it aside. They even packaged it up all nice:

The blanket is so ridiculously soft and gorgeous. Thanks to my whole wonderful family!
And Happy Anniversary, my Darling.

DIY Reality Check

britt — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:20:56 +0000

We’re heading out in a couple days to Toronto for my brother’s wedding. I have been working on a few projects for the wedding that I will share with you next week. Hopefully the happy couple doesn’t mind me using their day as blog fodder. Honestly, my projects were hit and miss. The ones I thought would be easiest ended up being the most time-consuming. On the other hand, my favorites were ones I did on a whim with materials I had laying around. This DIY Reality Check flowchart probably would have helped. I have now printed it out (sized down to 50%) and taped it to the wall of my little craft closet.
Can’t wait to share the (successful) projects with you soon!

P.S. I am thrilled to have a little mention in the April issue of Body & Soul magazine. If you see one, check it out on page 24. Thanks, Body & Soul!

In The Dark

britt — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:20:34 +0000

It’s moving day tomorrow and there is lots to do, but I have decided that blogging is much more important. Last night we painted a wall in the office the charcoal color that I mentioned before (top left photo above). I’m eager to see what it looks like in the daylight. The other photos are just for your viewing pleasure.
Yesterday I was trying to pack everything up with the blinds closed and the lights turned off because I have a scratched cornea (long story) and light made my eye slam shut and water like crazy. Packing in the dark is difficult (and dangerous – so many obstacles), so I eventually made my way to an optometrist. Now that I can see, things are getting done much faster. I’ll share some photos of our new place soon!

Sources: Design*Sponge, Abigail Ahern, Hashai, Desire to Inspire, StudioIlse

A Celebratory Post!

britt — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:54:35 +0000

My brother is getting married! Congrats to Jordan & Steph. We’re really looking forward to going to Toronto in April for the wedding. This is such a great excuse for me to peruse the gorgeous wedding blogs. Just look at this gem…

Images from Once Wed, shot by Our Labor of Love and designed by Joy Thigpen.

What Season Is It?

britt — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:01:08 +0000

It is the first of February, and I have yet to step in snow. I looked outside and saw it once but it melted as it touched the ground and then quickly turned to rain. Despite all my good childhood memories of snow, I haven't really missed it. Ryan and I both really love the rain. Having to carry an umbrella seems like such a small sacrifice to be able to take long walks in the middle of the winter without freezing or slipping. People are just starting to arrive here for the Olympics - the WINTER Olympics - but it already feels like Spring.
[Image credits: Floral arrangement by Once Wed for D*S; clothes by Corey Lynn Calter via Oh Joy; dining room of Sandine Place on D*S; vintage vanity trays from High Street Market on Etsy]

Piper

britt — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:04:56 +0000

I would like to introduce you all to my niece, Piper Isabella. She was born yesterday (so as the saying goes, she is probably pretty gullible) and I can’t wait to meet her. You might see a few more baby-sized tutorials here (like this one) in the future because I plan on being the best aunt ever.

In The New York Times!

britt — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:31:07 +0000

A huge thanks to Amanda Kwan with the Associated Press for including my Anthro-inspired tables in her article on ‘designer looks for big-box prices’! You can read it on the New York Times site, here and here. Did you wonder what Anthropologie thought of my take on their Curator Table? Well, Amanda asked them (yikes!) and you can read what they said in the article.
If you are new to Cucumbersome, welcome and thanks for checking out my little blog! You can read the original post on the tables I made here. If you are interested in DIY tutorials, here are a few more:

Leather Chain Necklace Tutorial

Recycled T-Shirt Necklace Tutorial

Corsage Shirt Tutorial by Kate.
If you have any ideas or tutorials that you would like to share, I would love to hear about them! Or if you just want to say hi, please comment or use the contact form. I look forward to hearing from you!

Savoury & Savary

britt — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:13:32 +0000

This is all I want to eat for the rest of my life. Or at least the next week. Toasted sourdough, a smidge of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, sprouts, a thick slice of heirloom tomato and basil. It must be heirloom tomato. That’s probably the snobbiest thing I have ever said on this blog. It may be much, much more expensive but it’s worth every cent. So mild, sweet, and much less acidic.
But I haven’t dropped by to just talk tomatoes (although I could go on…). I also wanted to tell you that I have some projects coming up soon, and mention our wreck of a camping trip. It was a disaster, and it was fantastic. We decided that camping in one of the many provincial parks outside Vancouver wasn’t enough. I guess we really wanted to get away. So we drove North up the Sunshine Coast to the very end of the highway, taking two separate hour-long ferry rides to get there. Then, once in the very small and remote town of Lund, we took a water taxi to an island that has no paved roads or electricity. On the north side of Savary Island, there are quite a few summer homes and cabins, so we hiked to the southwest side where there wasn’t a soul. We’re not anti-social, really. We built a little shanty with driftwood and a tarp, and set up our tiny tent right on the beach. Our stove stopped working on the first morning, so we lived on rice crackers, veggies and hummus. We also didn’t bring nearly enough water. Thank goodness there was a little general store, even if it was a long (and thirsty!) walk away. Despite all our little hiccups, it was so lovely to sit on the beach in the evenings, reading a book and sipping a mugful of wine.

Sandwich Time

britt — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:57:24 +0000

During the renovations, we didn’t eat well at all. We frequented A&W (it’s one of the only fast food places here), which is a very sad thing. No one should frequent A&W. Mostly we would grab a bacon ~~and~~ n’ egger (on a wheat bun, with tomato) in the morning. One morning, shortly after we had moved in, I was rushing around to get ready and grumbling about how I wasn’t going to have time for breakfast and I was craving a bacon n’ egger.
Ryan surprised me with a delicious toasted sandwich with a fried egg and tomato. It was so good.
Since then, we have perfected the breakfast sandwich. In our minds, anyway.
We buy kalamata olive bread. At first we could only get it at Safeway but the other stores must have missed our business because they soon started to offer olive breads too. When toasted, it has the best crunch to it. We spread a smidge of mayo (real mayo – don’t give me any of that “salad dressing”) and then layer on a fried egg, two slices of calabrese salami (good and spicy) and a couple thin slices of tomato. And a little salt and pepper.
Best. Breakfast. Ever.
We had it this morning for the first time in a while (thus the passionate description). I decided that I would make a second one and take a picture to post here.
But, um, a dog took it.

Spicy

britt — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:31:46 +0000

One on the many organizational accomplishments of the weekend is this new magnetic spice rack. I know, the whole magnetic spice tin thing isn’t news by any means. Maybe even a little played out. But it’s still genius. We put them up on the side of our fridge. I wasn’t going to label them because I always think I can tell the difference between oregano and basil (which, due to many years of not having a sense of smell, I always get mixed up). And of course there are times when I end up throwing curry into my greek salad. Well, one time anyway.
So I designed these little labels with some futura fontage (futura is currently my favorite font – I used it on my etsy banner too).
This reminds me – our new filing cabinet is in need of some file labels. Is it sad that I’m really excited about that? We cleaned out the office/guest room this weekend. Both of us had boxes and boxes of things that we have been storing at our parents’ houses and now that we’re settling down were forced to take back. Boxes and boxes. And Ryan has approximately one million canvases.
We had just collapsed from exhaustion and were sitting, enjoying the clean result, when Dan called and said he’s coming to visit. Good timing! We’ve got a functional guest room and, now, a guest for the room.
Last year Dan came at the end of March and we all ended up jumping in the lake. It’s still really cold so I’m hoping he doesn’t make us do that again.