things i'm loving…

1) Dream Cream, LUSH Cosmetics

$25.95/240 grams
Also available in smaller sizes.

I received a container of Dream Cream as a Christmas gift from my best girlfriend, and it truly is dreamy! I’m personally not into heavy, overly-perfumed lotions, so the subtle, soft, clean scent is a perfect fit. It’s an all-over body cream that I use on my feet, legs, arms and elbows before I go to bed, and in the morning when I wake up.

2) Monks Blend Black Tea, Teaopia

$13/100 grams
$7.50/50 grams

This blend of tea from Teaopia is a combination of Black Ceylon, grenadine and vanilla. Fabulous with a dash of milk and sugar. Nice for dipping a tea biscuit or madeleine in as well! Teaopia describes that the tea has “a mysterious background, as it is believed to have been developed by monks to fulfill their life’s desires and used by Franciscan monks to keep them awake during periods of meditation.” A lovely thought.

3) The Cat’s Table, Michael Ondaatje

$16 on Amazon

After a slow-ish start, I fell in love with this tale by Michael Ondaatje.

Amazon Description:

“In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy boards a huge liner bound for England. At mealtimes, he is placed at the lowly “Cat’s Table” with an eccentric and unforgettable group of grownups and two other boys. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys find themselves immersed in the worlds and stories of the adults around them. At night they spy on a shackled prisoner — his crime and fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever.

Looking back from deep within adulthood, and gradually moving back and forth from the decks and holds of the ship to the years that follow the narrator unfolds a spellbinding and layered tale about the magical, often forbidden discoveries of childhood and the burdens of earned understanding, about a life-long journey that began unexpectedly with a sea voyage.”

I love the way he reveals more and more about each character, their secrets, desires and histories as you make your way through the chapters. This book took me on a journey of my own. A habit of mine, especially when travelling, is to make up stories about those around me. A waiter serving us at a restaurant, two women, one older, one younger, speaking rapidly and happily to each other in French on the Metro in paris, luggage in tow. How do they know each other, where are they going? This book scratched that same “itch” for me, as the complicated histories of the characters in The Cat’s Table were revealed. Certain passages were exceptionally beautiful, and touched me deeply. Here’s my favourite quote from the book:

“There is a story, always ahead of you. Barely existing. Only do you gradually attach yourself to it and feed it. You discover the carapace that will contain and test your character. You find in this way the path of your life. “

A good read.

4) Brie Baker

$20 at Chapters/Indigo

Another Christmas gift, this one was on my wish list. Of all places, I first saw this brie baker at Chapters! Not only do I love the functionality of the bakeware, but the design and aesthetics of it as well. It helped that it’s available in the EXACT red of my Kitchenaid mixer and stove-top kettle. Red is the unofficial (official I guess, as it’s now in print) highlight colour of my kitchen. Beautifully melts a small wheel of brie and helps to hold the temperature for longer once taken out of the oven. Comes with a cute little bamboo spatula for serving.