There’s really only two places to jump out of a plane willingly near where I live. And when I say near, I mean about an hour away. So out we trekked to the countryside. I booked us with Skydive Vancouver and they’re awesome. They have their own plane, their own airstrip and super friendly staff.

After filling out the I-know-what-I’m-about-to-do-is-crazy-and-I-promise-not-to-hold-you-accountable-for-my-foolish-actions form, we put on our jumpsuits, got briefed and then patiently waited our turn. It was a pretty busy day so we got to chill in the sun and watch other divers for an hour.

When our time came, we put on our soft helmets, got our plastic goggles and strapped into a harness. The plane ride up was EXTREMELY uncomfortable. It’s a teeny plane and we have to sit in between each other’s legs in a row. Thankfully the flight was short which also meant I didn’t have much to time to get scared. Truthfully my heart didn’t start racing until they slid open the door and had me dangle my legs out. It was a tandem jump so I’m attached to a dive instructor who does all the hard work (i.e. keeping me alive). That definitely took the fear (mostly) out of the jump. My instructor did probably 20 jumps that day so if it’s safe enough for him, it’s safe enough for me!

Once my legs were dangling out, he counted down from 3 and with a heavy push, we launched out of the plane. The first couple seconds are disorienting (go figure) but as soon as he leveled us out, it was the MOST AMAZING feeling. It’s incredibly calm and the most wonderful sensation of weightlessness. We were in free fall for 40 seconds before he pulled the chute and then for about 5-10 minutes we cruised in the air, slowly heading back down to earth.

Here are some pics from the day. It was so fun, I’ll definitely be doing it again!

Darrel, my instructor checking my harness one last time:

The view from above (we jumped at about 10,000 ft):

Darrel’s attaching me to him:

Here I am, about to leave the plane:

Here we go!

Chute is pulled and we’re floating back to Earth:

Back on solid ground:

Seriously, I would recommend anyone to give it a try. That day, there was a grandmother making her first jump too. Her whole family, including her grandkids were there, waiting to congratulate her afterwards. If grandma can do it, so can you!

~ Cassie

{ images taken by Skydive Vancouver }

Summer has finally arrived here in Vancouver. We had a very rainy and dreary June but July so far has been pretty good, and hot too! I’ve been eating lots at outdoor markets and festivals and of course spending time by the ocean.

For Canada Day, my boyfriend and I went to the Salmon Festival in Steveston. I know, it sounds lame but for some reason, tons of non-lame people I knew were going and for families it’s a great event. I basically went to eat their wild salmon cooked over open alder wood fire pits, which looked like this:

They had a theme about going green so the disposable cutlery was made from wood, which can be composted. They made great efforts to help everyone separate their garbage into the right categories.

Steveston is actually a really pretty seaside town so I always like walking along the fishing boats to see the day’s catch.

A great thing about Vancouver is that we’re a foodie city. There is NO shortage of places to eat. Whatever your budget there’s something for everyone. One of my favourite places for cheap eats in the summer is the Summer Night Market in Richmond. This is an Asian market with tons of stalls selling cheap goods (think socks, pirated DVDs and cellphone accessories) and yummy food. Strangely, this year there was more of an international presence. Sweaters that I saw in the Ecuadorian markets and woodworking I saw in Africa seem to have made its way here. Looks like I don’t have to travel far to get my souvenirs anymore, blah!

I rarely buy anything though and usually beeline it to the food stalls. I have two favourites. The steamed corn and the meat skewers. Sometimes I’ll have some Japanese deliciousness but last weekend it was all about the corn and meat. The best stalls always have the longest lines. Here’s a pic of the meat skewer stand. I forgot to take a pic of the corn because I started devouring it before I remembered!

It’s hard to do work and stay indoors when there’s so much going on outside. Here’s a sunset from last week along English Bay. Sigh!

When we do manage to focus, we’ve been working away at a few projects. We’re currently designing a wedding invite for my friend Kelly, a wedding monogram for a really nice girl named Gillian out in Ontario and also some new cards to put in our shop. Plus we’re in the midst of redesigning this blog so our plates are full! Once we get a bit further on in the projects we’ll share it here on the blog.

Have a great week and check back soon because I’m going to write all about my skydiving adventure next. Yup, I survived and will regale you with the thrilling tale (not really).

~ Cassie

{ images taken by Cassie }

And it’s not my parents’ fault that I’m so bad with living things. We’ve always had a veggie garden. A big one. And it was successful every year. The sweetest strawberries, the crispiest peas, enough potatoes to feed Ireland and so many different kinds of Chinese veggies that I can’t even pronounce. Clearly in that circle of life, I was the consumer.

Anyway, last week I went to a PechaKucha event, which is pretty cool by the way. The presentation format is 20 slides, 20 seconds each. And if you go over, a hook comes out and pulls you off the stage. True story. Or not.

Right, so yes, the focus that night was on Vancouver’s goal of becoming the greenest city in the world by 2020. The mayor was there, all these sustainability experts were there and I left feeling extremely inspired to be part of the change. And not in an airy fairy, head in the clouds kind of way either. They offered real, tangible solutions that are already taking place. Our city means business and we all have to do our part. Even plant killers like me.

While it’d be hollywood to tell you that I’m giving up my car and moving to a farm to harvest olive trees or something, that’s just not going to happen. Baby steps people. So where can I start?

I know! I’ll save my almost dead plants and start an herb garden on my window sill.

Which is exactly what I did this weekend. I re-potted my three succulents and am now the proud caregiver to a peppermint plant and a basil plant. To be honest it felt super good to have my hands in dirt and to be all in touch with nature.

Here’s how they’re looking, baby and new and so full of life. And since I’ve told you all about it, I can’t let them die without suffering blog shame. And my reward, other than something not dying on my watch? Daily peppermint tea and pesto!

~ Cassie

{ pictures taken by Cassie with her super awesome camera }

I know we haven’t been friends for more than a year. You reminded me too much of Full House, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters and a restaurant chain. And I’m agnostic. Sorta. We just weren’t working out.

Mostly though, I was freelancing so I just didn’t need to hang out with you or your pal “the weekend” anymore. I won’t lie, it was awesome. My new friends “the beach” and “afternoon rounds of golf” really showed me what I had been missing out on.

But now I’m back to being an office bee full time and my new bffs aren’t into such commitment. I know I’m the lame friend who ditched you to hang with the cool kids only to have been meangirled and eat lunch alone. I’m crawling back to you, TGIF hoping for a second chance.

I know you like letters and all that, so how about some fun typography to mend the fences?

Want to make some word clouds? It’s pretty easy and fun at wordle.net

Or how about this awesome Psychatric Answering Machine Typography Animation. It’s hilarious.

This animation for the opening scene of Wedding Crashers is pretty good too.

Hope to see you next week, and say hi to “the weekend” for me.

~ Cassie

{ image from wordle.net, videos from michalforcer, daftcain }

I love beats, deep bass lines, funk and music that made you wish you could break dance. My friends know me as a Jamiroquai geek and it doesn’t help when a movie like Napolean Dynamite gets released and uses Jamiroquai’s Canned Heat as the memorable and geekiest dance piece in the movie. Despite that, Jamiroquai released their best work (in my opinion) back in the early 90s and helped contribute the acid jazz movement – a period that made me explore and become a connoisseur of house music, disco, funk, jazz, electro-jazz and old classics like Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield. Napster combined with a sales job for a major record label contributed to my obsession for music almost 10 years ago.

Today, my passion has dwindled but Derrick’s love for music keeps our playlist fresh. The one artifact left from my glory days of music is my Jamiroquai iron-on baseball shirt. It’s 10+ years and still going strong. I’ve always had a difficult time finding souvenirs that were meaningful (ie. it wasn’t just a band logo slapped onto a shirt for the sake of making money). So with the help of Bang-On shirts, I collaged Jamiroquai band members together on my shirt and made it a masterpiece only worthy of dry cleaning. Maybe not, but it’s still one of my favourite pieces of clothing today.

For me, t-shirts are one of the best souvenirs music lovers can have. It’s art, it’s cool, it’s personal and fun. And apparently, a good way for an Indie band to market themselves.

Yellow Bird Project is a Montreal-based non-profit that collaborates with Indie musicians and artists to design t-shirts and other goods that benefit charities and socially conscious organizations. It’s like “Threadless” but designed by bands.

Find shirts from Bloc Party, K-OS, Broken Social Scene and many more…

The site keeps it casual with a personal and DIY feel. T-shirt pricing is also incredibly reasonable and despite being founded by 2 Canadians, the prices are listed in USD.

I’m still looking for a shirt that rivals my Jamiroquai baseball T today, but many of these designs come close. Have fun browsing the site.

On another note, if you live in Vancouver and are looking to try new music, try Zulu Records on 4th Ave or Red Cat Records on Main. Tons of imports to browse through and in-house experts to help you find that next gem.

Cheers,

> Christine

{ images from Yellow Bird Project }

Last month I was in Peru and Ecuador and on the very last day of the trip, I visited the Charles Darwin Foundation. We went around 7am which turned out to be the best time since there was NO ONE else there. For someone who loves to take pics, this was gold as we got to spend ample time with these amazing creatures undisturbed. I took about a million photos.

I am now officially in love with giant tortoises. They are HUGE. And so SLOW. I know, seems obvious right but seriously, I had no idea how huge and how slow.

I’m feeling particularly slow this morning and if I had a shell, I’d retreat inside and snooze for a bit longer. But alas, I’m not a tortoise, I’m a functioning adult so it’s off to work.

Hope you enjoy the pics and I will try to post more from the rest of my trip in future posts.

Happy slow start Monday.

~ Cassie

{ images taken by Cassie and her dad }

I think it’s overused and a lazy choice. Perhaps an analogy will help. Uggs were made to keep you warm INDOORS but here we are, seeing them six years later, during the summer with sundresses. Crocs were made for the garden and I can say I’ve seen Crocs almost everywhere BUT the garden. Well, Comic Sans suffers the same affliction. It’s good for comics drawn by your kid who’s 8. That’s it.

Not good for business cards.
Not good for storefronts (unless, maybe, you sell comics, maybe).
Not good for signs in the bathroom reminding you to wipe your seat.

Now, you might be saying, “but I like my Uggs/Crocs… they’re comfy.” Yes, they are, but so is my bathrobe and I don’t wear that to work. It’s all about context and I’m guessing that 99% of the time, the context would be better represented by something other than Comic Sans.

You might also be saying, “well, Helvetica is overused and you’re not hating on Helvetica.” Indeed, Helvetica is EVERYWHERE and lots of designers hate Helvetica too. But to me, it’s like a classic little black dress. Boring if that’s all you wear every day but in a style pinch, there it is, reliable and ready to make you look good. My closet isn’t filled with little black dresses but every girl has one, just like every designer has Helvetica in their arsenal.

The reason to hate on Comic Sans go on and on and on and Brain Hoff over at The Design Cubicle did a great job of compiling the most common complaints on why Designers hate and clients love this font. The article may be dated but trust me, the reasons are timeless.

And since I can’t pick on Comic Sans without giving it a chance to defend itself, here’s what Comic Sans had to say (through it’s spokesperson Timothy McSweeney).

Have a great weekend everyone! And if you ever feel the need to use Comic Sans – don’t.

~ Cassie

{ via @nicksherman and my best friend Jen, image from Identifont }

Regardless, cooking together has been a great way to practice our teamwork and communication skills. To be honest, I’m surprised we’ve managed to do so well since I’m admittedly a Type A chef. I’ve had to refrain from taking the knife out of his hands when he didn’t chop fast enough. And I’m sure he’s refrained from stabbing me with said knife. Seriously, how we’ve avoided a meltdown in the kitchen is beyond me.

We cook new dishes as often as possible which means poring over cookbooks and scouring the internet. The result is lots of bookmarked pages, in print and digitally with ingredients jotted down on random bits of paper to take to the market. We really needed a way to consolidate it all and keep track of any notes and changes to each recipe. What a perfect excuse to buy a new journal.

There are lots of recipe journals out there but we wanted something plain so we could write what we needed without the confines of boxes, lists and check boxes. We ended up getting a simple ruled notebook with a food theme cover. Seltzer Goods had a couple and we chose the Rice and Beans cover (left) since neither of us are herbivores:

Here’s a cute one from MAUstudio on Etsy:

If you are looking for something with more organization, this one from Moleskine is great. Fully embossed cover, inner pocket, food calendars, measurements and conversions and multiple sections for courses and personal entries. It has everything a recipe journal ought to. While we were wowed by all its features, it’s more than what we needed so we opted out.

We’ve been copying in our favourite recipes so far and it’s nice to have everything in one place without having to go online or pull out the heavy cookbooks. Now if only making risotto was as easy as copying the recipe down…

~ Cassie

{ images from Seltzer Goods, MAUstudio, Moleskine }

This is the one I’m planning on giving to my dad:

My dad had a mustache when I was growing up so this card is perfect. And since it’s a bigger card, there’s plenty of space to write a nice message. I have so much to be thankful for because my dad is awesome. We just got back from a father/daughter trip to Peru and the Galapagos Islands (I’ll try to post some pictures soon). The trip was great but spending time together was the best part. The older I get, the more I value the time we get together – especially since we don’t live in the same city anymore.

For dad’s that fish, here’s another from Eggpress:

I love the paper goods from Hammerpress and they offer quite a few Father’s Day cards. Here are couple that I like in particular:

Last but not least, a cute one from Bumble Ink. I’ve written a lot about my love for Bumble Ink cards so it’s no surprise I’d include one here! The inside reads: you’re such a hip-papa-to-us!

Hooray for dads!

~ Cassie

{ images from Eggpress, Hammerpress, Bumble Ink }

Derrick and I just bought a set of chairs and brought them home yesterday. Did you know that Costco.ca sells some great designer knock-offs? We got Philippe Starck ghost chairs on sale… to feed our obsession with chairs. So when Derrick told me about these ABChairs, I was so ecstatic!

Currently, only limited editions of prototypes are available upon request.

Love it. I need it to come in green, pink, blue or gray. Would be awesome if a major retailer picked these up. According to Roeland Otten’s personal site, his intent is to make these “affordable to the mass market, lighter in weight, less fragile and suitable for outdoors use.”

Have a great weekend everyone!

> Christine

{images from illusion 360 }