Monday, October 31, 2011

R2 New Signage

There is a new chalkboard outside of R2 beside the 668A apartment door that lists daily specials ($1 muffin with purchase of an americano or drip coffee before 10AM) and specialty drinks (Orange Mocha, developed by yours truly and my fellow baristas). I had the privilege of writing on it!



Curb Alert Toronto #1

I've wanted to do Curb Alerts for a while now, and this is my first one! My Curb Alerts are of interesting pieces that I see lining the streets of Toronto, which are up for grabs. I post the location and a picture within a couple hours of sighting, and it's first come first serve!

Here we have a small table or nightstand, about 24" x 8" and 24" tall. Made of real wood, it has some water damage but would be wonderfully restored with a quick sanding and application of stain and tung oil. It's located at 149 Euclid Ave. Good luck!


Sunday, October 30, 2011

I want to ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle

$45 bought me one beat-up beautiful bike off the end of the driveway of an old italian guy. After two full days of work on it at Bike Pirates, it was finally rideable. Yesterday, it got a makeover of new bar tape and a new seat! In Belgium this summer I saw people using deflated tubes as bungee cords for the back rack and tried to remember how they did it. Very excited to continue riding this beauty. Thanks, Bike Pirates!










Friday, October 28, 2011

Captured Flames

I love how the flames leap around.








Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Drink Development at R2

Last monday saw a few of the R2 baristas brainstorming and shopping for the ingredients of possible specialty drinks. I photographed some of the process. 

Ingredients: result of shopping

We ended up developing two drinks, the orange mocha, and the chocolate chili latte. The orange mocha is currently being served at R2, and comes with the lovely garnish of a chocolate-coated sliver of candied orange peel from Delight on Queen West.  



Chocolate-coated candied orange peel slivers





Ingredients of the orange mocha







Me on the phone

Chris, an esteemed regular

Evan, making a free-pour swan

Evan, pleased about something, possibly my photo of his latte art

We will be serving the chocolate chili latte later this fall. 

Chocolate chili latte ingredients

Monday, October 24, 2011

Meet Samuel Lamp

I found Samuel on October 22, 2011, somewhere between Harbord/Markham and Dundas/Crawford. I don't generally name inanimate objects, but Samuel Lamp spoke to me. He is a beautiful retro style desk lamp in the perfect shade of mustard. I can picture the lamp in a hypothetical home sitting on a stained wooden sideboard with umbrellas inside in a white painted front hallway with fine wainscotting and hardwood floors, of course. It would illuminate an old cork board with postcards, grocery lists, and movies to watch. See the listing for Samuel Lamp on Etsy.com












Saturday, October 15, 2011

RSquared Cafe

This summer when I moved to Toronto one of my tentative goals was to join an independent coffee shop and take my love of good coffee to the next level by working on being a barista. Graham convinced me with difficulty to go to a coffee shop that was all the way across the city for a free coffee. Well one thing led to another, and before you know it, it's Gigi the barista at RSquared Cafe on Queen West. Definitely a dream come true. Thanks, folks at RSquared!
Photo cred goes to Evan Jerred for this image of me steaming milk at RSquared
French press brewed RSquared Espresso blend coffee. The perfect start to a Saturday morning

Take a look at the crema-like topping which the french press allows to come through

Beautiful blue Mikasa cups from Vintage Rescuer.


Friday, October 14, 2011

New family member to the Art Dept!

Welcome to the Canon EOS XSi DSLR! Complete with a "nifty fifty" lens. It feels great and liberating to be able to record things that inspire me, that I create, which are beautiful, and which I think are noteworthy. I only had about forty minutes to play around with the camera today but it's very exciting! I've wanted to join a photography meetup group ever since I got to Toronto but only lacked a camera with which to take photos. Next steps will include taking full advantage of the Nifty Fifty, and in the future getting wide angle and zoom lenses. I leave you with a few of my first shots from this afternoon. 

Decorated doorknob

Windowsill and self-made curtains

Dried orchid flower from RSquared Cafe


My door and shabby-chic ceiling

Antique iron meant to be placed in the fireplace to be heated up. Found on the side of the road while biking home