EVERYTHING ROOF.

Good grief this is fantastic. If one of your new years resolutions was to a) get involved with AMAZING things, or b) start donating to very worthy causes. Then good news! You can kill two birds with one stone by heading over to over to our The Aboutface Collective's IndieGoGo and help them make the Everything Roof a reality.

I am so proud to be able to say such awesome ladies are pals. Sometimes the ridicuclous going ons in Toronto's city hall, makes one get so downhearted - But then, things like this remind me why I love this city so unbelievably much. And why I actively choose this to be my home.

Community really is everything. And despite what some people might say, Toronto has such a big heart. And some damn fine ideas... like the everything roof!

Meatless Mondays

Eating a plant based diet can be tres good for your body, your wallet (lentils are cheap!), and the planet. While we were occupying Bushwick, the Nigthshades ate largely vegetarian, mainly because it was the cheapest way to eat healthy. One dinner I feed 10 people on $8 dollars worth of groceries with this amazing curry.

If anyone out there trains as an athlete, The Thrive Diet should be your bible, and Bicycle Magazine has this good article to read. (Although they didn't mention that white beans in pasta is pretty amazing, and that nutritional yeast is your best friend...)

Now I am not saying you need to go Vegan at this very moment (because I didn't do that myself), but I would like to recommend for hard-core meat eaters to try out the Meatless Monday trend. If you search on the internet, there are thousands of websites offering tasty recipes that will make your mouth happy, your wallet sing, and your poop be fantastic.

I found this one today for Mushroom and Lentil Pot Pie with Gouda Biscuit Toppings. OMG!!!

Or you can always go eco/ethical with your meat. My brother is the Manager at Hills Foods in the Greater Vancouver area. I eat only "Luxury Meat" myself, which with my budget is a rare occasion, but worth the wait. Kangaroo anyone?

Pretty Girl on a Bicycle

Sea foam without extra charge.



From the West-Coast Touring Club.

Does anyone know where this snippet first came from?

ICYCLE 2012 IS COMING!

It's nearly that time of year again! Everyone's favourite annual ice race at Dufferin Grove... ICYCLE! So stud out those tires and we'll see you on the ice or on the sidelines being rowdy either way. The event this year is going down on Feb 18th. It's $5 to sit in the box (all proceeds going to Charlie's Freewheels), or FREE to watch from everywhere else. Afterparty at Bike Pirates.

And with the way this ridiculous snow free & mild (minus yesterday) winter is going, it's probably going to be a pretty nice night for the race. Fingers crossed....

(photo by Nana Arbova)

MALEONN.

Gorgeous. Maleonn circa 2008.

BIKES ON WHEELS & THE MINI DROME!

What's with all this october content finding its way onto the web now? Not complaining though, this new commercial from Toronto's Bikes on Wheels shows footage from the Red Bull Mini Drome at the Brickworks last Thanksgiving weekend, and sports a lot of familiar faces.

LEESIDE MAYHEM.

One of many reasons to love Vancouver (the others obviously being west coast shades & mountains). But, I only feel okay on missing out on this, cause we were running around Brooklyn dressed at David Bowies (plural) that night. For some reason this video makes me super happy. Good job Zenga pals.

OMG GLITTER!!!!

All That Glitters: The History of Shiny Things from Etsy on Vimeo.

So glitter was created as a way to re-purpose waste? Let's get back on that trend shall we!

So DNS has some interesting Glitter stories...

The first Nuit Blanche DNS (The Deadly Nightshades) set out to have some fun. It was the night I was officially initiated into the gang in a series of trials and feats of strength and wit. Shortly after the photo bellow was taken somewhere around 7am, Namtron, Big Red and I came across a drag-queen on Queen Street West giving palm readings. She told us we'd be famous and influence the world, then COVERED us in magenta sparkles. For years afterwards we'd find sparkles in our houses... for me they were always reminders to stay focused on STEP #3.



Namtron and I found this shirt in an open arts-fair in San Fransisco when we visited for SF Bike Expo in 2010. It's funny 'cause it's true on so many levels. Remember to practice safe crafting kids.



Then last spring my friends Emily and Linnea threw this fun alley cat scavenger hunt, called ChinaTown Hustle! So Namtron and our awesome bike-polo killing it friend Gena joined us and we became three Ninjas biking around Vancouver in glitter paint faces, golden glitter bombing unsuspecting commuters on the sea-wall, whilst drinking a saved-for-a-special occasion original Four Loco Gena had saved from her stint in NYC. We improvised the game by adding "do a tequila shot at a dive bar in Gastown" and "hey other team, you get extra points if you lick this glitter off the ground."




Photobucket lets you do some pretty awful things to photos. I may be addicted.

So Etsy, thank you for doing this video that made me squeal for joy, and take a trip down memory lane.

Hey, maybe DNS should have an Etsy? What do you think Internet?

Irene Stickney is a change-making babe

PROOF.

Fierce Bambi demonstrates the DNS mantra of "ENFORCE AWESOME" in her seafoam coloured sewing studio, The Make Den. xo

YOU.

So, so good. Been back on a TV on the Radio kick lately. Also, we're determined to throw a Nightshades party in that closed roller rink on Coney Island if it ever re-opens... or we figure out a way in...