Item of the day: Vintage Salt & Pepper

These vintage salt & pepper shakers by littleredmercantile are adorable!

Wow.

I feel so loved.

Apparently Pat & Lindsay weren't the only one's alerted that it was my birthday yesterday (as opposed to August 21st, as my mother has been insisting). I just received a package in the mail - a gift just because from the lovely Emily of mchen.

A set of her very own cards & some cute little thank you notes. How awesome & incredibly sweet! Thank you Emily!!!

Now I'll definitely have to return the favour & send out some of my own snail mail. I've already thought of the perfect recipients for these... Who doesn't love getting a card in the mail?

Friday Five

This week certainly ended with a bang - apparently, it was my birthday yesterday... you'll soon see why!

1. Pat & I had a great time last weekend - we went with a friend to Cleveland for a concert. We also saw the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which was pretty neat. No pictures though - I didn't bring the camera to the concert & I wasn't allowed to take any in the museum.
2. I took a whole bunch of pictures this week though - mostly of new items I've been listing & some books I've been meaning to talk about on here.
3. Yesterday, I went to work & received a gift from my friend. She picked up 2 books for me that we had seen at the Coach House Press during Open Doors Toronto! She got me Eunoia by Christian Bök & The Hayflick Limit by Matthew Tierney. I'll tell you a bit more about these later, once I've read through them.
4. Pat came home last night & told me to close my eyes. I hear him rustling around in the closet... hiding a gift? My birthday is 2 months away... he never buys that far ahead....... "Open your eyes!" & surprise! A gift! What could it be? ....................... A NEW CAMERA!!!!!!!!! OOOOOOOH - I was SO surprised!!! I've complained about the older camera I've been using, but I didn't expect I'd be getting a Nikon D3000, especially not yesterday!!!!!!! I'm SO excited! Pat's reasoning for giving it to me early (besides yesterday being the last day of a sale) was so that I could figure out how to use it properly before heading out on our trip to Edmonton in July. Take a look - this was the first shot I took: This is me playing with the macro:This shot makes me happy - I'll definitely be using this camera to take product photos!
5. I've listed quite a few new things this week - this is my favourite: And OK, I really like this bracelet a lot too:

Item of the day: Mixed & Matched

I love this gorgeous multi-strand necklace by JennyBunny!

Science Byte

It's been a little while since I last posted a Science Byte - seems I just kept putting it off, not too sure what to write. But lately I've been wondering about vitamin B12 & why some people need to get a B12 shot... so why not look into it & tell you guys? I enjoyed the point form style of the last Science Byte, so that's how I'll do this one too.

I found the following information in Robbins & Cotran's Pathologic Basis of Disease.

• vitamin B12 is also known as cobalamin
• humans are totally dependent on dietary B12 - we need about 2 - 3 mg (micrograms)
• in the food chain, B12 is produced mainly by microorganisms - that means plants & vegetables have virtually no B12. A strict vegetarian diet does not provide enough B12.
• eating meat, fish & dairy provides a sufficient amount of B12 - enough to store a couple of years worth of the vitamin in the liver.
• B12 is a cofactor for 2 important reactions. The first reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme methionine synthase - basically, this enzyme forms methionine (an essential amino acid - without it, you can't start protein synthesis) from homocysteine (a fairly toxic compound if it accumulates) but only if B12 is present. At the same time, folate is transformed into a form that will act as a cofactor for another important reaction (this one forms dTMP, a precursor of DNA - without folate, DNA synthesis is compromised). The second reaction is even more complicated (if you can imagine), but essentially without B12 a compound accumulates... & somehow this leads to neurological complications. It may be that abnormal lipids are incorporated into neuronal lipids, leading to their breakdown. Neuronal lipids form the myelin sheath - an insulator for neurons, allowing the electrical impulses to travel faster & further.
• pernicious anemia is believed to be caused by an auto-immune attack on the intestinal cells, disrupting B12 absorption & leading to B12 deficiency. Deficiency can also result from some medications interfering with B12 absorption. Common symptoms are fatigue, irritability, depression, weakened concentration & memory loss. However, symptoms often don't develop before the anemia is quite severe. High-dose vitamin B12 pills or a B12 shot are the necessary treatment.

Item of the day: Avocado

This hammered sterling silver bracelet by 3squares is stunning!

Wordless Wednesday

Item of the day: For your eyes only!

I love that you can inscribe a secret message inside this leather cuff by (Canadian!) leathermadenice!

You can choose the colour & finish - personally, I like this distressed look.