Weekend Review: Art Walk, Little India, & A Rustic Coffee Table Tray

The past week has been occupied with meeting a research deadline, working call shifts, and catching up on road trip posts, but I'm happy to have put a little dent in the still-to-be-done. I keep thinking we're at the beginning of summer and I've still got a good two months to catch up on things; which results in a daily moment of anxiety when I remember it's already July.

Edmonton's summer has been nice (though we could do without the thunderstorms, which roll in most days with little warning). And life is good as a PGY-3 -- smack in the middle of residency, where you mostly know what's going on, yet don't yet feel the pressures of looming Royal College exams and fellowship/job applications. Here are some things I've appreciated in the past seven days:

1. Whyte Avenue Art Walk -- I spent some time yesterday morning wandering around on Whyte Avenue, which for one weekend a year is transformed into a 7-block outdoor art gallery. I saw some really great paintings (including a lot of my favourites from last year) and appreciated getting to see the artists who created the works -- something that's missing from most traditional art shows.
   
   
2. Little India -- I had a nice lunch at this Indian buffet, a highlight being the mango custard and rice pudding.
   
3. apartment decor -- I'd had an idea of a few items I'd like for my apartment, but as a search of the usual stores didn't pan out, I've been just waiting until I happen upon them. This week I came across the perfect coffee table tray while looking for a candle (which I didn't find) at HomeSense, so decided to buy it...despite it costing more than the coffee table itself (good old Ikea).
   
   Next door at Jysk I also found a little fake plant to occupy a kitchen shelf. My apartment is slowly coming together :)
   
   In case you're wondering, the top shelf is holding my sand collection and the middle shelf is displaying two fork sculptures from a night market in Hue, Vietnam -- here's the whole set:

   

   forkestra
4. spring rolls -- These Vietnamese spring rolls made for the perfect summer dinner -- and were so easy to make (vermicelli, lettuce, cilantro, and butter chicken -- fusion cuisine...because it was what I had on hand).
   
5. watermelon -- Snacking on it at home and packing it along to work; watermelon's something I'll never get sick of.