this year i…

[ learned a thing or two about making models ]

[ drank a lot of coffee ]

[ was inspired ]

[ got used to the weather in Winnipeg ]

[ visited some neat places ]

breakfast with eileen

Inspired by Eileen Gray’s impeccable aesthetic, Bodum created the Eileen french press. Since she is one of my favourite modernist designers, I had to have it!

Read her biography and see some of her work  here.

(hotter) coffee and cake

Determined to improve my sewing skills, I dusted off my sewing machine and tried to think of a simple yet useful project. Finding something that fit the bill wasn’t difficult. Every morning, we make coffee in a French press. Then, to keep it hot, we haphazardly wrap a tea towel around it. Perfect – anything I put together was bound to be an improvement. I started out with a tea towel (this one is from IKEA) and some cotton batting. After testing out a couple of methods to join the two ends, I settled on using braided hemp to tie them. Naturally, after assembling this French press “cozy” I had to test it out! This Olive Oil Cake recipe with fresh rosemary and chocolate from Whole Living was a delicious accompaniment for (hotter) coffee.

P.S. – This cake is even better the next day, as the rosemary flavor has had time to intensify.