Goose & Button Go to the Museum! (Date 1)

Hello!

So Aslan and I are doing this new thing where each week we're going to make it a point to go on a date!

(AWW)

Last year, we were both a tad too homebound & mutually decided we needed to make a change!

The dates are going to be all sorts of things!

(preferably free, but occasionally we'll part with some loose change).

We are also starting another thing. Everything written likes this is done by me (Estée). And everything written in italics is done by me (Aslan), just to save everyone the confusion and the fact that I hate referring to myself in the third person. Anyway, lets get on with the romance shall we:

This week, we went to TATE Britain.

Me trying to be CUTE in the underground. I even curled my hair!

To see my full outfit of the day, take a look here! She looked really nice that day, in fact I felt bad because I made no effort whatsoever, and when I say that i am not being modest (I wore drainpipe brown trousers). 

Nearly there! The tube station in Pimlico is decorated appropriately which is always nice to see. There is not enough variety on the underground.

Dr. Seuss trees. The tree surgeon had a field day, it did make them look like ents though.

Here you have it! TATE Britain!

This was my first time there! 

To be honest, I don't really "get" art in the same way others do.

BUT-when I see something I like, it really speaks to me.

I really love TATE Modern, so I was a bit worried I wouldn't like this one as much! Turns out I do!
It always seems like TATE Britain is always overshadowed by its bigger sibling, but to be honest it is much more pleasant (fewer groups of loud european students!), approachable (different art from different periods means there is something for everyone) and smaller (your feet will be much happier).

Aslan can't seem to resist concave mirrors.

I love taking pictures of people in meseums/art galleries.    

Quite the chandelier. 

For some reason I was really drawn to this. 

It kept flashing on and off in an artistic manner.

Lord knows what it's meant to represent, but it was nice.
I think this actually won the Turner prize a while back, and I can remember a lot of people getting in a hissy fit about the most coveted british modern art prize being awarded for the lights being turned on and off. 

These stairs were quite a nice surprise, usually everything but the art in galleries is clinically white.

Of course, I can't go anywhere without getting hungry!

I casually made my way down to the café & got some designer ready salted crisps.

Whenever Aslan & I go somewhere, he usually gets into some sort of mood where he ends up giving me this face.

APPARENTLY he does it because he's imitating me! 

HOW DARE HE! 

He's just mad because I made him eat the gross, soggy biscuits from the café that cost £5.

That's it!

Date number 1.

Do you like these posts?

If you can think of any ideas for our London dates please let us know! 

The Last Instalment of Our Canadian Photos!

So you may be fed up of seeing all of our photos from Canada, but we have one final instalment! 

We're back in the UK & have been since January 17th, but it's taken Aslan THIS long to get his act together as far as the blog goes!

Don't worry! We've got many plans for the coming weeks!

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First stop, the St. Jacobs Farmers Market located in St. Jacobs, Ontario! 

Me being raised VERY close to St. Jacobs always saw it as "normal" to see Amish people walking around town.

Technically, the people I'm referring to are actually called Mennonites! Similar, yet different.

This photo was taken at the cattle ring in the market!

Basically there is a panel of auctioneers behind a desk, a mennonite in the ring showing off the cow & the people in the audience bid on their top picks!

Aslan had never in his life seen such a sight, so my brother & I thought it was essential that we take him!

Just when he thought the fun was over in the auction ring, we took him "out back."

Basically, behind the ring is kind of like the "holding unit" for the cattle waiting to be put through the ring.

                           

You can see some of the cows here who are either waiting to be shown or have already been bid on.

Quite a weird & unpleasant experience to be honest. 

You have to walk along these rickety wooden boards that overlook the cows.

The smell is overwhelming & I've never heard so much combined mooing in my life!

They also have horses, pigs & sometimes goats etc.

A Canadian classic!

Cheese Curds! Also known as "squeaky cheese" because it squeaks when you chew it (if it's fresh)!

So delicious!

Summer Sausage!

Apparently this is a Canadian thing as well!

Basically just a smoked meat in a sock!

(Not a real sock, but that's what the bags are called).

Fancy a JUMBO kosher pickle?

What-the filthy vat & garbage bag storage don't entice you?

Only $1.00 each, though!

So, if you really don't believe me that Mennonites are everywhere in my town, this is a horse & buggy PARKING spot in the local Wal-Mart.

I am not kidding around!

Standard St. Jacobs Farmer's Market item. Aslan could do with one of these!

This is another local hotspot.

My grandma's go-to for stationary.

Love that they had to identify exactly what a "handful" means.

Goose & Gramma Make Homemade Doughnuts!

(This could have been a post all on its own!)

Took quite a bit of preparation to make these doughnuts happen.

Aslan & Gramma had to take a trip to the grocery store for some quick rising yeast as she was all out!

*AND I didn't receive my invite. I was left at home!

Tasty little things, though!

One of the following days, we woke up quite early to go to Niagra Falls! 

Took me awhile to get myself sorted this particular morning!

We finally get to Niagra Falls and as we park the car we looked up and saw this view. We knew we were not going to get the best of views that day.

The entrance to the local tourist trap. 

It was mainly empty with the occasional splattering of a group of Chinese tourists.

During the winter months many of the activities at the falls are closed down; including this lift which takes up to a platform form which you can get an amazing view.

As we approached the the horseshoe part of the falls the visibility (and the spray) got worse and worse.

Ta da! You could only really see about half of the horseshoe falls. I realise that it sounds/looks like we had a terrible time but it was actually quite fun.

 It kind of reminded us a little of what it was like on our US road trip. 

The fog did block off the views but it also made everything dissolve into beautiful nothingness. 

As soppy as bread and butter pudding.

One of my favourite spots to go.

Thought Aslan might like taking a few photos here!

The family dog!

Boom! Real name: Boomer!

He loves going for walks!

Of course we had to take him along!

REALLY old style Canadian mailboxes!

We LOVED watching this show when we woke up every morning! 

Its a Canadian classic about a clever dog and the adventures he gets up! 

Estée's mum said this was one of her favourite shows when she was growing up and we have to say that it is still great today. 

One episode involved two orderly single people that got together in the end because of the dog. 

It was very sweet.

Overwhelmed by the consumer choice at a dollar store (especially after England's limited range of produce at Poundland). 

This is the range of delicious cured meats at OSOGOOD butchers. 

They have the best baloney and wieners there! 

The girl who served us was really nice and Aslan got lots of free samples; including an odd looking sausage which consisted of pork jerky suspended in pork gelatine (it was delicious according to him). 

She also told us that man who set up the butchers stole the name from a butcher's shop in London that he used to work in before he came to Canada. 

Has anyone heard of an OSOGOOD butchers' in London?

Needless to say we visited Value Village again (and again). 

One of Estée's favourite charity shops got closed down. 

On a brighter note, the Halal butcher's next door is doing a booming trade!

Last but not least, the top knot.

If I'm just having a relaxed day, my hair usually looks like this & Aslan makes sure to document it!

I'm sure this isn't the last you'll be seeing of it!

That's it for our trip!

As I said we have many more posts in progress!

We're doing a new thing where we do one "date" a week!

*hint* this week we went to a museum!

Until next time!

Goose & Button

x

Canadian Thrift Store Finds!

Going to antique markets, thrift stores & junk shops is something both Aslan and I love to do!

 It's even better when we do it together because there are two sets of eyes!

Aslan and I have similar, yet very different tastes when it comes to second hand items.

Sometimes I love what he chooses & other times I have to give him the stare down (ladies, you know the one)..

We didn't actually do too much thrift store shopping while in Canada, but there were a few things we just couldn't resist!

...

We even made a youtube video about it!

Onto the first item,

            

    A schnitzel-shaped vase!

I'm still almost positive this is called milk-glass.

I love the look of white décor.

In fact, in Canada my entire room is basically white!

This little guy was hiding at the very back of the shelf.

This is why ample time & a lot of searching is necessary if you want to find some treasures!

If you're not in the mood for wasting a day away, I suggest you go another time!

...

I was really attracted to the little bobbles for some reason (haha)

& the shape is pretty hilarious as well. SOLD!

...

Next up is a wooden box! Pretty standard, really.

I have no idea why I wanted this. 

For some reason it caught my eye & I thought for a couple of bucks-why not!?

I'm still not sure if I should paint this, or just leave it.

Maybe put some blushes in there? Hmm, I don't know.

What do you think?

 My new coffee filter bowl! ($0.99)

This has got to be one of my favourite things (aside from the fruit bowl coming up next)! 

I've already set it up on my makeup table. It's filled with eye primers at the moment!

It's quite weird really because I don't actually drink coffee.

Maybe I'm a coffee lover at heart.

(I had an issue with drinking at least 6 cups of coffee a day from the ages of 16-19. Now I can't even look at the stuff).

 FRUIT BOWL! ($1.00)

Whenever I'm scouring the housewares section in thrift stores I put myself into my "future home" mode.

You may have heard of Pinterest? A place where dreamers can come together (that's cheezeeee)..

My advice is to imagine your perrrfect home (Pinterest has helped me think of new ideas) when going through the aisles.

Ask yourself, "does this suit the vision I have?"

THIS is one of my favourite houseware items I've ever come across!

& let me tell you-there have been MANY!

A little silver polish thanks to my Grandma & it's sparkling!

Currently holding plenty of clementines!

It does the job & looks great doin' it!

Silver  Tea Tray ($3.99)

Another beauty related item! Yes, I am obsessed. 

As I said in the video, I plan to put my perfumes on this try & whatever else I think might be useful.

Now I just need to find the space for it!

One day I'll have all the space in the worrrlldd. Oh, to dream.

Anyway,

I used to go to MUJI for all of my beauty-related storage, but I've learned.

Not only is it a bazillion times cheaper, but it's so much more interesting! 

I would love to walk into someone's house & see all of their hand-picked items!

Especially the functional ones!

...

I'd love to know of any interior focused blogs you read!

I really enjoy seeing different styles & getting some inspiration (especially storage!) (and if it involves makeup storage EVEN BETTER)!

...

Note: Aslan is not interested in beauty storage.

x

Estée

What We've Been Up To:

 Good morning ladies and gents. It is a beautiful sunny Sunday over here in Canada, and being the cave dwelling hermits that Estée and I are, we decided to stay indoors and give you guys a little update on my trip to Canada. 

Here I am at Heathrow Airport in London, and this was pretty much one of the most taxing flights I have ever taken.
My flight was early in the morning on the 1st of January and I had to a stop-over at Paris as well so I couldn't really get any decent rest. 

Goodbye England, you soggy grey land.

Hello Canada, you cold (very cold!) yet bright land.
It was freezing when I got here and it was snowing quite a bit too! I'm glad I packed my long johns. 

I got to Toronto in the late afternoon and was picked up by Estée and her lovely Mum.
I was pretty beat so I just wanted to get some rest, but we managed to sneak in a quick visit to Harvey's where they make some of the most delicious burgers!

This was one of my christmas presents from Estée's Grandparents: a HUGE jar of peanut butter, and by huge I mean obnoxiously large.
This thing weighs 2kgs!!! The biggest jars of Sunpat in England are like only a quarter of the size of this heart attack in a jar. 

On the road. Estée is driving me around here which makes for a nice change. 

A quick pit-stop. Tim Hortons is a Canadian hot spot best known for it's delicious coffee, donuts & let's not forget Tim Bits (the donut holes). 

On the road again, but now fueled up. Estée cannot get enough double doubles! (Double double=two creams, two sugars when ordering coffee).

Talize- a local thrift store.
Let me tell you, British charity shops have nothin' on the sheer volume & size of North American second hand stores.
This is bigger than the average Sainsbury's!

The view from the inside. Denim anyone?

Lost in the sea of second hand goodness. 

Saw this funky shirt. It made out this material that felt like chain mail.
We did make a little video of me modelling it but unfortunately we had some technical difficulties with that. 

Estée's still workin' on that double double believe it or not! 

BAM! Nostalgia

Canadian Problems. Frozen slush/future rust.

This is a standard sized portion for a burger over here.

And this is a standard sandwich. 

Estée looking a little uncomfortable after that burger.

A little gem we found in another second hand shop called 'Value Village'.
Estée looks a little like Baba Yaga here. 

Eric (Estée's Brother). Red eyed & dangerous.

Me looking like the Asian version of Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys. 

Picard's Peanuts!
We're not too sure if this is a one-off, but Estée remembers coming here on the regular as a kid.
Ontario grown nuts! How can you go wrong!?

Some lovely Mennonites in the peanut store.
We were tempted to buy them, but at 30 bucks each we had to say no way!

Speaking of mennonites, we took a little trip down the road to the St. Jacobs farmers market to take a look at some salves & ointments.
If you want to read more about these-their uses & the history, take a look at Estée's LONG post on her beauty blog HERE!

Here we are in DOLLARAMA!

Limited Edition French Canadian Corn Flakes from the dollar store!

The chip aisle in one of the larges Wal-Mart stores either of us has ever seen.
It probably takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end of the store to the other.

A&W.
I warn you now-do not get Estée going on the topic of A&W.
I never knew one woman could love one fast-food place so much.
There's a lot of history behind this place, though!
Her grandma tells us she remembers going on dates to A&W with Gramps- pulling in, rolling the window down & waiting for the waitress to rollerblade out & place the tray on the car window!
There's also retro music that plays from outdoor speakers as you pull in! 

Of course we had to go skating!
 Luckily Estée's brother's skates fit me so we didn't have to buy a pair.
(Almost impossible to rent skates in Canada because if you're Canadian you're BOUND to own your own pair).

There you have it!
Don't worry there will be MUCH more to come!
Next week we're going to Toronto & Niagra Falls!
xx
Estée & Aslan