Story 4: "The Adoption"

Happy 2019! 

My first posting of this year will be about how it all started... the story of how we adopted Oreo (Rory) last March from Grimsby, Ontario. I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate a belated birthday with him too, as he turned 5 years old on January 30th. Happy belated birthday little guy!

I hope you like it. It's a story that I've been wanting to tell for a while now so I'm glad it's finally finished.... between night classes, a full-time job and Christmas, it's been a struggle to find any spare time. Anyway, I had a few more stories up my sleeve so stay tuned and I'll make an effort to update my blog more often. One of my co-workers recently complained about my lacklustre schedule, so I don't want to disappoint too many more people.

Thanks for reading and stay warm y'all (:

Third R&R story: "The Sleepover"

Happy September! I hope that everyone had a good long weekend with lots of sunshine and relaxation. Summertime sure flies by quickly.

I am proud to say that I finished the third Ran and Rory story (see below). I hope you like it...it's about how Ran and Rory (Oreo) finally became really good friends after first ignoring each other. I guess some quality "together" time in the same house will make even the shyest dog come out of his "shell".

Thanks for reading!

 [narrated by Ran the dog]

For the past couple of weeks, Ritsy and I have been staying at Rory’s house with Matt and Maki. Ritsy is selling her condo so that she can buy a house with a basement, out of which she plans to run her own dog grooming business.

At first, me and Rory just ignored each other. I still couldn’t understand him and he smelled funny.

But soon after, we became really good friends!

Now we do everything together and even chase each other around the park. So much fun! We even stay at each other’s houses each week and cuddle together on the couch. Rory turned out to be a really great little guy and I don’t think he smells funny anymore.

THE END (and Ritsy did end up buying a bungalow with a basement 😊)

Second story: "The Beginning"

Hi everyone! The second Ran and Rory story has been posted! This one is all about Rory and his journey from Korea to Toronto.

Hope you like it (: 

Hi there! My name is Rory and I moved into Matt and Maki's house a few months ago.

I came from far away and now I feel like I'm finally settling into M&M's home. Their place is nice - it has lots of parks close by where I can run and chase balls!

During the first month in Toronto, I as really nervous and shaky on the streetcar. I only trusted Maki and growled at other people.

One day, Matt took me for a walk and I ran away! I saw the stairs that Maki and I walk down everyday and I wanted to run home before she forgot about me…

It was scary - I had to cross a busy road and run down lots of streets before I got home.

Maki was shocked to see me in the backyard: she told me she was very worried about me (?)

Matt came home shortly afterwards and seemed upset and stressed out. I promised him I would never run away again.

THE END

Drawings for our parents

Over the past month, I spent some time making illustrations for my mother and M's parents, for no particular reason (see below).

I have more free time these days, so I thought that they would be nice gifts for our parents, since they're easy for me to make but personalized enough that they might enjoy them. I always feel a bit awkward that M's parents are always so nice to me and I never really do anything for them in return (except show up at their house). Hopefully these small contributions can act as a form of appreciation, as I know that it's difficult to accommodate a finicky vegan city girl at the best of times. 

In other news, next week is Ran (the dog)'s first birthday! Yay! He is the light of my mother's life and such a wonderful companion that we decided to buy him a cake and celebrate in the park. Awwww.....dogs are such amazing creatures. 

M's parents with Shelby the dog

Drawing of my mother and Ran the dog

A warm Sunday, a birthday, and a painter

This weekend has been super busy. It was E's birthday, so we went out for all you can eat sushi, and then went (again) to Fountain bar afterwards, to hang out and listen to Mr. Furious spin some tunes.

Today was a nice warm day, but I was busy running around looking for a new apartment, and was also hung over. Also, the streets were packed with shoppers! Toronto can get totally nuts as soon as the warm weather starts (:

On a side note, here is a painter who I love: Christer Kaarlstad from Norway, amazing oil on canvas (see images below).

Check out his website to see more of his awesome work: http://christerkarlstad.com.



Have a great Sunday!
xx makiko

May 1st!

Yikes, time flies! 


Been back in Toronto now (officially) for 4 months, with the exception of a few trips to Ottawa and a 2.5-week stint in Montreal in February. It's been crazy, mostly because of my (lack of) secure job situation in January, and the mounting stress of paying for an awesome sublet while trying to organize all the stuff in my mum's storage locker. Who knew I had so much stuff...and why did I even keep it? I soon realized that a good way to purge anything not essential to your life is to move every 3 months.... le sigh.


In the meantime, I've done a bunch of cool things since I've been back. I went to see Grimes with my friend Jen, and Tasia came down to go to the Youth Lagoon concert. A few weeks ago for Andrea's birthday, a bunch of us went to see Azari and iii at the Hoxton. They were great! However, my most recent girl crushes are Grimes, Charlie XCX, and Coeur de Pirate. I listen to the three of them almost every day, as well as the new Sleigh Bells album, which is amazing. 

http://www.chippedhip.com/2012/02/grimes-oblivion/

http://www.nme.com/reviews/charlie-xcx/12772

Each weekend, it seems that someone I know is DJing at Fountain bar, which seems to be the only place I ever go to on Saturdays. Last weekend Dan (DJ Sexhelmet) was spinning, and the week before Andrea, Erin, and Andrew were playing. This Saturday Terence (Mr. Furious) will be there. It's crazy! The main reason that everyone is there, though, is because of our friend and bartender Vince, who happens to also be a music writer for Exclaim magazine. He's one very cool guy (and makes good drinks too!)


Anyway, I hope that I can get my blog and my art stuff back on track, now that I've sorted myself and my stuff out. I am planning to finish one of my paintings this weekend, so fingers crossed! It seems like I went from being very seldomly employed to working 6 days a week and trying to take a french class on the side. Needless to say, mon francais souffre a cause de  ma vie tres occupee. C'est mal. 


I'm also planning to update my blog over the next little while, so stay tuned!


xx makiko

Sketches for New Painting

Speaking of new paintings, I've started these sketches almost two months ago but didn't finish them in time for Jill and Terence's wedding (the painting was going to be their wedding present). Soooo....I'm hopefully going to finish it during reading week, and then I can give it to them while I'm back in Toronto. Fingers crossed!

Here is the actual composition sketch for the painting (above)

This is the close up of the second owl (it'll go in the foreground)

And....here are the two little guys who sit on the window ledge in front of my desk. I see them everyday and it's become an inside joke between Tasia and I that they represent the two of us (in a "plasticine friendship" kinda way)!

Have a great weekend!