Friday Friends: ALL The Owls

I have a lot of owls. I love them, I can't get enough of them.
When I visited my grandmother's house when I was young I always admired a mirror in my aunt's old bedroom. I don't actually know who the mirror belongs to, but I do hope one day it will be mine. The mirror has a big purple owl painted on it. You can still see the mirror, but the majority of the space is occupied by that big-eyed owl.

Since then, owls sort of crept out of popularity. I still remember loving that mirror, and looking at it in the bedroom every time I would visit.

Recently the surge of owl popularity has risen again, and I eagerly acquired every owl item that I fancied. I've since gotten a lot of owls in my possession, but of course not nearly enough. I got lucky to find that Garden Works was in an owl sort of mood this past Christmas, and I quickly stocked up on lots of fun owl friends.

Here are photos of all the owls I own (minus a few if I've forgotten them) numbered to show where they came from.

1. Little Owlets (Kiwi on the left, me on the right) from Urban Outfitters. These were bought online. They came in identical boxes, so you'd never know which owl you got until you opened it! When Kiwi left at the end of August last year, he took me (the green one) with him as a little reminder. I got to keep the gray one. They kept us company while we were apart.
2. Door hanging owl! Brought home for me from Hawaii by my very good friend (who knows about my owl obsession)
3. Owl catch-all. Another Urban Outfitters purchase. I went a little crazy one day and bought a lot of things online for when I moved out on my own.
4. Tiny owl necklace from Suzi Shier. My mom bought me this one.
5. Odd gold owl figure. Thrifted.
6. One of the owls from Garden Works sold as Christmas decor. I had a woodland tree theme, and stuck owls, butterflies, twigs and birds in the branches. This fluffy guy was one of them.
7. Twig owl, another one from Garden Works. He sits in my peace lily for now.
8. Rhinestone owl necklace from Forever 21. Kiwi bought this for me.
9. Two small porcelain owl place card holders from Garden Works (on sale after Christmas.)
10. Owl ring from Urban Outfitters. The first thing I ever bought from them.
11. Owl piggy-bank from Urban Outfitters. Love the colour most of all!
12. Sleepy owl painted on a log cut from a Christmas tree. I painted it myself.
13. Gold owl necklace on a long chain from Suzy Shier, another one my mom bought me.
14. White fluffy owl from Garden Works (also part of my tree decor.)
15. Three owl necklace. Gorgeous sparkly owls! This one, Kiwi's sister bought for me and mailed it from New Zealand. I get thousands of compliments on it.
16. Big hollow owl necklace with really long chain, from Urban Planet. 
17. Strange owl carving out of soapstone, it looks like. Thrifted.

Hopefully more owls will get to be added to my collection. I'm thinking of taking up macrame just for the owl benefits. 

-Strawberry

Friday Friends: Peonies

Another heavy, pounding downpour somehow got my creative juices flowing again. As I opened the back door to clapping rain, I thought of a blog I had read this morning on Design Sponge about Peonies. I remembered seeing some pink blooms in the garden the other day (being strangled by weeds and invaded by ants) and thought they might be open by now.

One peony had a huge, brilliant pink bloom, while other buds were just opening. I brought out my scissors and snipped three, along with some other white flowers and a few sprigs from a blue blossoming tree. Arranging them simply in a mason jar (from pasta I had made a week earlier) I pulled out a funky, pink side table I had painted myself and threw one of my scarves on it. A few other nick-knacks and my faithful tea light candle, and the light was perfect. Here's how they turned out!

-Strawberry

Friday Friends: White Rock Beach

Kiwi and I took a spontaneous drive out to Peace Arch Park and White Rock beach for a walk in the sun. Living in a rainy city, the sun is something most people here in Vancouver take advantage of the moment it appears. Despite only being around 10 degrees out, Peace Arch Park was bustling with activity. Families enjoying a picnic, volleyball and a short walk to get a picture with the arch.

A short drive down Beach Road we found a parking spot not far from the steps down to the beach. Quaint beach houses lining the small sandy road sparked my own desire for a home along the water. Every summer I would go up the Sunshine coast to visit my grandparents in Powell River. Most of that time was spent on the beach, on the lake or visiting family. On one trip we went for dinner my uncle's house that was directly on the water where you could walk out of the living room and be in the ocean within 10 seconds. Descending the rusty stairs to the beach I was instantly brought back to that fond memory, splashing in the ocean with my uncle, cousin, mom and my uncle's dog, Butch. 

I easily kicked off my flats, entrusting them to a nearby rock near the stairs. Smiling to myself, I saw the other beach-goers had done the same with their belongings. An unspoken trust. The tide was out which left 300 meters of sand to explore before the shallow surf even began. Enjoying the soft sand between my toes which I hadn't felt since my cousin and I had visited almost a year ago, Kiwi and I held hands and headed out to sea. The wind picked up the closer we got to the ocean so we decided to head back to the car.

At the bottom of the stairs, Kiwi and I noticed a train chugging along which would block our crossing to the car. I hastily brushed the wet sand off my feet and stepped into my shoes hoping to beat the train. Climbing the rickety stairs we easily beat the slow moving engine and sat in the car waiting for it to pass so Kiwi could have a look.

We drove home into the sun with the sunkissed, sandy feeling on our skin as a salty reminder of our little trip to the beach.

 

-Strawberry