BIJOU LIVING

Jul 9, 2012

From the Archives - The Striped Shirt

Originally published February 24, 2010

Coco Chanel - Audrey Hepburn

Bridgette Bardot - Marilyn Monroe

Kurt Cobain - James Dean

Elvis - Tyrone Power

a vintage Russian navy uniform - The Cure

Duran Duran

Jul 5, 2012

A 700 year old West Van McMansion

A 700-year-old community was destroyed 'by accident.'

The District of West Vancouver 'accidentally' mowed down a grove of ancient old growth trees to make way for a construction road. Good job guys. I wonder if it was the same crew that stripped Weston Park of its beauty (which coincidentally opened up a $1 million view for the home owner across the street).

If the humans aren't tearing down perfectly good homes in West Van to make way for McMansions they're tearing down trees to make way for McMansions.

A 100 year old tree:
has fixed about 2,500 kilograms of carbon from the atmosphere
has converted 9,100 kg of carbon dioxide and 3700 kg of water
has stored up to 23-million kilogram-calories (a calorific equivalent to 3,500 kg of coal)
has made 6,600 kg of oxygen, which is sufficient for one person to breathe for 20 years
has drawn from its roots up into its crown (against the force of gravity) and evaporated into the atmosphere at least 2,500 tonnes of water. Every tree continually recharges the atmosphere with water in this manner, and when cut down, that amount of water is lost. (source: Living Tree Educational Foundation)

Thanks to Todd Major of the North Shore News for the post inspiration.

Jul 3, 2012

Our New Bedroom Wall Colour

Benjamin Moore Simply White

The bedroom colour when we moved in.

Ever have a colour affect your mood? I'm serious - this taupe, or whatever it is colour, made me in a bad mood. Henceforth, we are in the middle of painting our entire apartment Simply White.

Jun 21, 2012

Quote of the Week - Elizabeth Taylor and the Head Crusher

I am my own commodity. Elizabeth Taylor

When I read that quote by Liz I automatically thought of Twitter and how those little avatars are just the perfect size - for the Head Crusher.

Jun 18, 2012

Currently Listening To

So, last night I was sitting in the fireplace room with one ear to CBC Radio 2 and one ear to YouTube when I heard what I thought was some new, bearded, Vancouver super group (CBC was airing a Canadian music show). Imagine my surprise - and relief, as super group is not in my vocabulary - that it was actually a single from the Beach Boy Dennis Wilson (the hot one, that drowned). River Song is off of Wilson's only solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, released in 1977 (yes, the same release year as Star Wars and 20 years before the release of Auto-Tune).

Go give a listen to 'the saddest three minutes in the history of pop music'.

Jun 15, 2012

Stuff We Did Not Leave Behind

Tip of the Week - In the Shower

My latest fix? Rubbing coconut oil all over myself in the shower. Seriously. Plop a big spoonful in a bowl, get in the hot shower, start at your feet and massage the oil into your skin all the way up to your face (you can even massage it in your hair if you want). The heat from the shower melts the oil as you're massaging. Don't use soap to wash it off - use it as soap! When you get out of the shower, your skin will be super soft and all that dead dry skin will wipe off. Guys - you can do this too. I told my Dad about the oil (he had super dry skin) and he swears by it.

*caution the tub will get slippery so be careful.

Jun 12, 2012

From the Archives - Vintage Honda Bikes

Originally published March 3, 2010

I was lucky enough to grow up in the country where we could bomb around on dirt bikes and ATVs. Now that I live in the city I'm thinking about finding a vintage bike to bomb around on. There's a guy in the West End that rides around on his Dad's 1970s Honda scooter I'll have to track him down and take a pic. Watch for him - the bike's yellow and he's a good guy that likes to chat.