Out for a Friend’s Birthday

ass="aligncenter size-full wp-image-28273 blk-brdr" src="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/n-cake.jpg" alt="n-cake" width="640" height="474">I had a great time out with my friends Nyla and Julie last week. It was Nyla's birthday!Readers here have seen me out with these lovely ladies, each highly regarded poets, before (most recently : Nyla - here, and Julie - here).I met Nyla at my sister's place the Christmas of 2010. We'd laughed so much that afternoon. I'd taken a good photo of her that evening so I had a reason to follow-up with her right away. We kept in touch through FB and then, five months later, met for coffee. Then again a couple of months later for lunch, and so on.Then she had a launch party for her poetry book, in October 2012, and Nick and I went. It ended up being a really good time - (I wrote about here).Just before we left I joined the line to have Nyla sign my copy of her book. There were quite a few people in front of me and I remember thinking at the time that I could wait or just get Nyla to sign the book at our next get together.I'm so glad I decided to wait, because while I was in line, the friendly lady in front of me turned around and said hi.That was Julie. During our brief conversation we ended up talking about how we both kept blogs. At the time I was new to blogging, and I'd never actually met another blogger in person, so that, in itself, was exciting. I found her blog the next day, and left a comment.Aside from her gift with words, Julie is a very good knitter, which is the main topic of her blog, Knitted Bliss. I share her love of working with yarn, but switch out the needles for a hook, as I am a crocheter. So, during the months that followed, we bonded over our mutual love of creating things with yarn, and kept in touch via our blogs.And so began our on-line friendship, each of us leaving comments on one another's posts. That went on for a year before we met again in person, going out for dinner together.These two chance meetings, that easily might not have happened, have led to relationships that I now value highly.We recently got together to celebrate Nyla's birthday last week.We met for drinks at Luma, the restaurant at The Lightbox Theatre on King Street West, (which is main space for the Toronto International Film Festival).I had a cocktail called 'Holiday Feast', which included 'rosemary-infused wild turkey bourbon, cointreau, cranberry and rainbow peppercorn syrup'. Did you know that bourbon is pretty much the same thing as whiskey, except it's made in the United States, and both are pretty much the same thing as Scotch? Anyway, I'm not usually a fan of that kind of liquor (I'm a rum girl, if I'm having a mixed drink), but the ingredients in this made it sound so tempting. Good that I changed things up and ordered it because it was delicious.

Handmade Birthday Cards Using Gift Wrap

Here's a little idea for making a birthday or gift card, using some wrapping paper.You can make one to match a present you're giving, or just as a card. In these photos you see examples of both. The card with the balloons on it was a birthday card I made for my father-in-law, and the one with the birthday cakes on it was one I made to go with a gift I gave to my friend Nyla, for her birthday last week. The third one, with the polka dots, is a little tiny one that I will use when bringing someone a bottle of wine (the wine in the picture was a gift to ourselves and used only to demonstrate).

Gift Wrapping : How to Make a Fancy Bow using a Comb

ass="aligncenter size-full wp-image-28174 blk-brdr" src="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/how-to-make-a-ribbon-bow-for-gift-wrapping-using-a-comb.jpg" alt="how-to-make-a-ribbon-bow-for-gift-wrapping-using-a-comb" width="640" height="640">[ Follow-Up : I've figured out a second way to use a comb to make a gift bow, so after you've had a look at this post, please click over to this one : How to Make a Gift Bow Using a Hair Comb - Version 2. Thanks for reading! ]————————-Hello and welcome!I was going through the drawer in the bathroom the other day and found a bag of combs that's been taking up room in there for a couple of years now. I'm pretty sure I'll never use them up because I can't get that type of fine toothed comb through my hair. The reason I got them in the first place was because I needed ONE small comb, to help keep my bangs in order, when I got them cut. After checking a few different shops, I could only find them in packages containing many combs of different sizes and colours.Now, combs aren't really something you can give away, right? So, I'm left with seven of them taking up space in my drawer. Well, actually, now I am left with six of them, since I've found an alternate use for one, making these gift bows.Do you have an extra comb lying around, and have a gift to wrap? Well then, today is your lucky day!This works with fabric ribbon or with inexpensive curling ribbon. Using thinner ribbon turns out better than wide. I made mine on the small side, for wrapping smaller gifts, but you can make them as wide and as full as you'd like, using more ribbon and wrapping it as wide as you want.How to use a comb to make gift bows :Choose a long comb and break 4 tines off, side by side, to make a gap in the middle. Mine just snapped off, but you might need to use scissors pliers to do that.Take some thin ribbon - I used about 26 inches to make small bows that are about 2 inches wide. Take a second piece of ribbon that is long enough to go around the gift you're wrapping, plus and extra 2 inches. Or, if you just want to tie the bow onto something, the second piece should only be about 5 inches long.Wrap the first ribbon around the tines of the comb, keeping the gap centred, as shown in the photograph. Make sure the end of the ribbon is past the gap, so it will be included when tied with the second ribbon (as described bwlow).Take the second piece of ribbon and pass it through the gap, above the ribbon loops. Pull through until the loops are in the middle and tie the second ribbon in a tight knot.Pull the loops off the comb, and fan out the 'petals' of ribbon.Attach to the gift by taping the ends together on the underside of the package.Once you get the hang of it, you can make one in under a minute.

Loud Music and Dark Alleyways

We share our love for live music with our friend Meghan, and the three of us headed out on Saturday night to a place where we knew we could get our fix, The Horseshoe Tavern. It's one of Toronto's older venue, where live music has been performed for the last 68 years.

My Birthday – 2015

It was my birthday recently. I can't say why, but I tend to keep it quiet and usually just celebrate a little with Nick and my parents. Most of my friends don't even know when it is, not because it's a secret or anything, but because ... well, I don't know really, it's just not something I talk about much.

Then this year Nick and I were talking about going dancing and the subject came up. Andrea was going to come with us and it would have been weird and awkward if I didn't mention it was my birthday. Our friend George came along as well.

We went to a place we like, called The Velvet Underground. The alternative music they played was great and we danced a lot. It was really fun.