Mod Mischief

More outfits for Burning Man! This one's for me. -Pants from Value Village -Tank tops and Roxy shoes from my closet -Goggles from Irving Rivers, painted silver by Chris -Arm warmers made from a pair of tights I had kicking around Silky smooth. -Vest, slippers and shiny skirt from Value Village -Purse and glasses from my closet I love the parasol (a gift from Thailand), but I don't think we have room to pack it. Chris = green man -T-shirt and shorts from Old Navy -Mask made by Chris out of left over decorations from our last house party! Pajama fairies! This might look a little familiar... me: -Vintage nightgown set from Ragtime Chris: -Housecoat from Value Village -Pajama pants from Giant Tiger - Wings made out of garden decorations Another cavegirl ensemble -Boots and cuffs made from Value Village fun fur coat -Children's fun fur vest from Value Village -Skirt and top from my closet

A big part of Burning Man is the gift economy. Not wanting to be left out, Chris and I have made a bunch of gifts to give the new friends we’ll meet on the playa. First up, Bandanas I’m pretty proud of these. We wanted to make sure that what we gave away didn’t become junk and one of the best ways to do that is to ensure that gifts are useful. What could be more useful in the dessert than a bright red bandana?!? You can use it to hold your hair back, to wipe the sweat off your face, to cover your mouth and nose in a dust storm or you can soak it in water to help cool yourself down… So where did we get a bunch of cool bandanas to give away? My linen closet. My mom is an amazing shopper and she finds the most incredible deals. She’s always on the lookout for red kitchen accessories since she knows how much I love them, and a while ago she found me a set of red cloth napkins and placemats. I love them, but in all the time I’ve had them, I’ve only used them twice. How often am I real...

Burning Man is only days away! Chris and I have been working hard to transform our Value Village finds into playalicious outfits. Here are some of our finished ensembles: Outfit #1: Space-age cavemen In line with the Evolution theme, we're going to rock some funky animal prints and shiny metallics. Chris: -Value Village leopard print shirt -Walmart plaid pants -Aviators from Ragtime Me: -Silver lame bikini from American Apparel (I hate supporting that store, but seriously, where else could I find a silver lame bikini?!) -Leg warmers and arm warmers made from Fabricland clearance fun fur -Goggles from Irving Rivers, spray painted silver by Chris -Silver gladiator sandals from Walmart -Sparkly purse from the dollarstore Outfit #2: Can't miss us couple These clothes are so bright I couldn't take the picture with a flash! Chris: -Yellow t-shirt and board shorts from Old Navy (both only $5!) -Reflective work vest from Giant Tiger -Goggles from Irving Rivers, spray painted gold ...

Chris, proving that he didn’t go to school for nothing, drew up a 3D model of our future apartment. We thought it would be fun to move our virtual furniture around… Looks like we have more stuff than space to play with!

My former roommate, Jenny, invited Chris and I to join her at the Science and Technology Museum to check out the Karsh exhibit . The exhibit included a studio where you could take your own portraits. Yousuf Karsh was responsible for some of the most iconic images of the last century. We have a long way to go! I clearly have a lot to learn about lighting. At least the picture Chris took didn't turn out much better!

We signed the lease yesterday. I'm so excited! I can't wait until we get to move in October 1st.

We gave Chris' cat, Simone, a bath today. She is now less stinky and also less than pleased with us.

Chris and I are apartment shopping. I still can’t believe that I’m leaving my beloved Hoos , but it’s a done deal. I sent in my two months notice on Wednesday so there’s no turning back now. When I agreed to move in with Chris I gave him a list of conditions. I would only move out of my fabulous apartment if the new place had cheaper rent space for a studio/sewing room at least one balcony (I can’t very well go from 3 balconies to zero) a big bathtub (I love my claw foot tub) room for the washer and dryer (I don’t do laundromats) hardwood floors and a location within walking distance of work So we’ve been searching Craigslist , Kijiji , Used Ottawa and all the rental company sites for the last few weeks. Which brings me to the lame pun in the title. Bing Maps is awesome. Don’t get me wrong, I love Google and everything they do, but until Street View comes to Ottawa, Bing ’s bird’s eye view is the next best thing. It saved us from wasting time going to view so many place...

So I lied . The Death Star clock is, hands down, my most requested record. I just sold another four today.

How bizarre is it that I was just thinking about how layered records would make a great scale effect when this popped up in my google reader? Street art by JAXPAC (jacksonville public art coalition) via Wooster Collective

Our Midsummer Night’s Dream Pajama Party was so much fun. We transformed the living room into the site for a magical slumber party and enjoyed spiked watermelon juice well into the early hours of the morning. What we wore: I found a beautiful 1960s nightgown set at Ragtime ; very Betty Draper , even though I only wore the gown since summer has finally hit Ottawa. I started the night with my fairy wings on, but it wasn’t long before they were gracing the backs of other party guests. Chris paired his donkey ears with a swinging smoking jacket we found on our big Value Village spending spree . My roommate Mike rocked a housecoat and a pussy willow circlet he made himself. Our guests joined in on the sleepwear fun in varying degrees of undress. Most popular drink: Am I really going to mention the watermelon keg again? Sorry. It was just that awesome. How we set the stage: Most of the furniture was moved upstairs in order to clear the way for the queen-sized futon that dominated the livi...

Mick Jagger First of a set of Rolling Stones records for a coworker.

After our successful trial run , the hardest part of putting together the watermelon keg for our Midsummer Night’s Dream PJ Party was finding a big enough melon downtown. We eventually found this beauty at Hartman’s. The stand was created by placing an Ikea bowl on top of an inverted casserole dish. It was a perfect fit! Brad, our very own Vanna White

Chris and I had just enough time before the party on Saturday to take in a little bit of the Lumière Festival . I'm so glad we did! There were awesome upcycled lanterns... stilt walkers... with bubbles! And so many cute kids in costume. There was also some cool art. Gargoyle by Tick Tock Tom Next year we'll have to go back when it's dark.

I have a sneaky suspicion that whoever is behind the fabulous new window display at Canteen is also responsible for my favourite Ottawa street art .

Aww… isn’t this stuffed bunny we found at Value Village cute? How about we cut off his ears! My roommate Mike watched, horrified, as I took my sewing scissors to the top of Mr. Bunny’s head. He didn’t believe me when I told him we could put the ears to better use. It was so worth it. Just look at Chris making an ass of himself as Bottom at our Midsummer Night's Dream PJ Party! Plus they'll be great for the Billion Bunny March at Burning Man.

While I was happy with the fairy wings I whipped up late last Friday night , the straps didn’t really work with the vintage nightgown I wanted to wear this weekend. Enter an awesome Giant Tiger find: “Country Garden” butterfly and dragonfly for $1 each. All I had to do was pop off their heads and bodies. I attached the butterfly wings to a magnetic name tag I had kicking around from my days working part time in a shoe store. Now I can easily add the wings to any outfit without any straps!

My little melon is making the rounds. That's my hand pouring delicious spiked watermelon juice on Apartment Therapy’s green page, Re-nest . This is probably the closest I’ll ever come to having my apartment featured on AT .

In my inbox today: Hi! Your Instructable " Tap a Watermelon! or How to Make a Watermelon Keg " was just featured by one of our editors! Look for it on the Instructables homepage within the next 30 minutes. Being featured means we think you are awesome. Keep up the great work! http://www.instructables.com/ Yup, there it is. My little watermelon keg is on the front page.

Chris and I went a little crazy in Value Village yesterday. We went in looking for costumes for Burning Man and, $200 later, we left with all of this . It made for a fun bus ride home. I’m always amazed by the generosity of strangers. The contents of our shopping cart would have cost us $50 more if the wonderful woman in line behind us hadn’t offered us her coupon. She wouldn’t even let us pay for the earrings she was getting.