Kiddos

Today I spent the day with these little darlings while their mommy took their baby brother to his first check-up:



We read books, went outside and blew bubbles, checked the mail, ate lunch, and snuggled. Don't you love nieces and nephews? You get to do all the fun stuff with them.

Happy Tuesday!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

I did some serious thinking over the past weekend. I've got something to share... a (huge) project for this week. This Easter weekend will be the new launch of:


My Etsy shop has long been forgotten... but no longer. I'm taking it in a whole new direction. I have ideas flying left and right, and with three days off this week, I'm going to make some magic happen. I will be one busy girl: creating, photographing, listing, the works. I'll share glimpses into my crafting space, sneak peeks, my new shop banner, and the final products. You may want to hold on to your seats.

Oh, yeah... and you might get to see our finished kitchen and a purse peek or two. Maybe something to make you laugh. Maybe a recipe. We'll see... I'm feeling bloggy-ambitious. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Happy Monday!

Polyvore Loves

I have a beautiful new nephew, Wil - with one "l"! He's got a cute little button nose, and I can't wait to hold him. Our local hospital's maternity ward is currently under visitor restriction due to the flu season, so I only got to peek at him through the glass. I'll get to hold the little munchkin on Sunday, though. His siblings are pretty excited. His older (3 year-old) sister said, "Umm... I think I want a baby sister" when she heard that her mommy had a boy. Too cute.

I chose one of my favourite designers, Betsey Johnson, for this week's Polyvore. I wish my new little nephew could meet his wacky aunt in this adorable outfit...





Happy Friday!

Time for a giggle.

Source

My most loved classic from the high school years: Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's possibly the most quotable movie of all times. Here are a few of my favourites:

Ferris Bueller:
This is my ninth sick day this semester. It's getting pretty tough coming up with new illnesses. If I go for ten, I'm probably gonna have to barf up a lung. So, I better make this one count.

Ferris Bueller:
A) You can never go too far. B) If I'm gonna get busted, it is not gonna be by a guy like that.

Simone:
Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

Cameron:
I think I see my dad.

Principle Rooney: Whats the score?
Bartender: 2-2.
Rooney: Who's winning?
Bartender: The Bears!
Rooney: I love baseball.

Hope you had a laugh or two :)

Happy Wednesday!

P.S. New niece or nephew in the morning - wahhhooooo!

23 before 24 - Check.

True story: I was going to share the "23 before 24" goal that I had reached with you today, and took a picture, but immediately began to rethink my post. I'm embarrassed - my cuticles are horrendous. But...

I stopped biting my nails!

I had to share with you anyway! This is a huge feat for me - I've been biting them since I was a toddler, and have never been able to stop, not even for my own wedding. I simply decided that it's time to have grown-up hands... and the thought of manicures may have been alluring as well :)

Speaking of manicures, I picked up this lovely (chipped) polish at American Apparel (I won't link you to their site, I'm sure your eyes will thank me) - it's called Mouse Gray. I picked up a slightly darker gray that I'll share with you in an upcoming giveaway.

Let me know how you're doing with this year's goals and dreams.

Happy Tuesday!

Sharing is Caring

How to amuse yourself during road trips: grab a ball of yarn.

I hope your weekend was grand - we had a great lazy time, got to see family, got to sleep in. We have a new niece or nephew coming on Thursday, so the countdown is on!

Can I share a little something with you? I adore house tours - they are so inspirational, whether they suit your taste or not. The tours that I've chosen are real gems, you must check them out:

Lauren's First Solo Flight via Apartment Therapy

Emersonmade via Design*Sponge

Danielle Deboe via Design*Sponge

Heather Frazier via Design*Sponge

Raina Kattelson via Design *Sponge

Please take the time to skim through the tours - I promise you'll enjoy the feast for your eyes. Happy Monday!

Bliss.

via weheartit

I'm excited for a weekend with my husband -we are both off Saturday and Sunday, which rarely happens. We'll sleep in a bit, go to the farmers' market, maybe go for breakfast... sounds like the beginnings of my kind of ideal.

This week's Polyvore Loves is titled, "Honestly"... because this is what I'll honestly be wearing tomorrow. Pure comfort with a couple pops of colour - can't beat it.

Happy Friday!

Lushie

Greetings from mid-week!

Those of you who know me, know that I'm a huge Lush fan: a lushie. Here's the definition of a lushie from Urban Dictionary:

Name for a female who is obsessed with the bath and beauty store Lush and knows all about the handmade, vegan, organic products and how to use them.
"This chick knows about these products so much, she should work here"
"She must be a lushie"

Now that that's out in the open, I'd like to share some of my favourite products with you... keep in mind, this is just an assortment, not every single product that I love. The nearest Lush store is four/five hours aware, but you can order their products online. Take a peek...

Porridge soap - my all-time favourite!

Sexy Peel soap - a refreshing citrus number

Mask of Magnaminty - it's a face mask, but I love it as a cleanser!

HIWTK (see above) solid perfume - perfect for your purse... no spills!

Breath of Fresh Air toner - the best I've ever found... refreshing and no alcohol!

Coconut deodorant powder - the best summer accessory :)

Ring of Roses buttercream - a great in-shower moisturizer

So there you have it: a Lush wonderland. If you've never used one of their products, consider this a prod in the right direction!

An important fact to note: I am in no way endorsed by Lush... I wish I was, but I'm just a happy customer.

Happy Wednesday!

Something to Share

I made you a little mix-tape, just because it's Tuesday. I only picked songs that I like enough to repeat five times in a row :) You can leave this open in a window and go about your business. I hope you enjoy my selection... I'm pretty sure that you will. Let me know what you think!

Happy Wednesday!

Create a playlist at MixPod.com

New Class

I'm back from a most enjoyable weekend - I had a great time with my gal pals, although I didn't take a single photo, so I don't have anything to share. Trust me, I had a good time :) I got in late last night, so I'm still getting caught up on a thing or two here at home.

I've signed up for a scrapbooking class from Shimelle: Something from Almost Nothing. The class is designed to help you use up your stash - it's a great way to spring clean. Prompts are sent to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and there is a forum for everyone to participate in. My goal is to stay caught up in the class, I have a bad habit of not staying up to date. Starting tomorrow night, I have three pages to get caught up on... I can't wait!



Happy Monday!

Kitchen Peek

We've been hard at work changing our kitchen around over the past week. Remember the paint colour I showed you? The one that I picked out, after saying no-way-Jose to the suggested shade of gray? Well... the BM Gull Wing Gray was much, much too dark for our apartment. It literally sucked the light out of the light fixtures. So...

Back to the paint store we went... this time to pick up the shade we were supposed to: BM Abalone. Guess what? It's perfect for our kitchen! Here's a little peek at what's to come:


I'm using a lot of white to brighten up the space - I've got a DIY to share next week, and I'm also using Umbra's Wallflowers on one wall. They're super cute: three sizes of white blooms (a set of 25) that are magnetic! You push metal pushpins into the wall in a pattern that you like, and these puppies stick to them. I adore Umbra's products, and my brother-in-law gave these to me for Christmas - with no hints involved... they were one of my favourite gifts.

I went to the fabric store this week and bought some bright red vinyl to cover our chairs with. I've been meaning to do this for about two years, and the kitchen redo is pushing me in the right direction. It would make our set look super retro-y cute. I also purchased some fabric to make curtains with. It has every colour that we're using, although the red appears orange in the picture. I couldn't pass it up - and for $6.99 a metre, I couldn't go wrong.

Daniel is going to finish the second coat, and we'll both tackle the trim and ceiling - a nice crisp white. I hope to have everything finished by the end of next week, I can't wait to share the final product with you! I'm eager to change up the art work, get the curtains hung, and organize my pantry. The room will look so cohesive!

Happy Friday!

Polyvore Loves

Time for this week's edition of Polyvore Loves!

I've got a girl's weekend planned for Saturday and Sunday, so this set was created in light of that. I wish I could be wearing this rockin' outfit to the movies! I saw a blazer similar to the one shown (boyfriend style, black sequined) and everyone else thought I was crazy for liking it - but I think it's adorable, and it totally works with this outfit. Everything is a little edgy, a whole lot cute. The ruffled top and the hit of pink bring out the outfit's girly side.




In other fashion news, I was unsure about the whole "motorcyle" jacket deal. I felt like I would look a little too motorcycle-y, if you know what I mean. But... I had a gift card for a store that I hardly ever shop in, and they got the cutest jackets in. I tried one on and fell in love... and after using the gift card, I only had to pay $30! Can't go wrong with that. I'm going to wear it this weekend - I think that I might get away with not wearing my winter coat. Maybe I'll pack it, just in case :)

Happy Thursday!

Currently...

• Enjoying the day off with my darling
• Planning our kitchen decor
• Smelling fresh new paint
  
• Making decisions about school
• Praying that I will make all the right decisions
• Wanting to paint my nails
• Scrapbooking my heart out
  
• Scheming up plans for the next two weekends
• Hoping that I'll get to see my besties over the next two weekends :)
• Looking forward to the farmer's market in spring
  
• Dreaming about cardigan weather (minus the coats)
• Wishing someone else could do the dishes
• Hearing my pup snore and my hubby turning pages
  
• Snuggling under a comfy throw
• Heading to bed

This week I hope to share a few things with you - that peek into my bag that I promised, a new recipe I tried, a look at our new kitchen scheme, and a few things checked off my 24 list.

Happy Wednesday!

Recipe Time

I tried out my friend Ashley's super yummy bbq chicken pizza - and you should too! It was delish - we added some tomatoes to the mix as well.

Every time that I make homemade pizza, Daniel gives me the puppy-eyed look and asks me to make monkey bread. My pizza dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas, so there is usually a fair amount of dough left over. We discovered monkey bread a couple of years ago, so the dough doesn't usually go to waste ;)

I don't make monkey bread the "official" way. You can look for a recipe if that's what you're into. We make individual portions in a muffin tin - easy peasy. Grease your pan, divide the dough into little balls and plunk them in each cup. Put a pat of butter on the top, sprinkle a lot of cinnamon sugar, add honey and/or nuts if you want. Bake at 350ish until golden. You can take these puppies up a notch by pouring some icing over the top - homemade, canned, whatev. It will always taste great.

Monkey bread - before

Monkey bread - after

Try it out - it's a great way to use up any leftover pizza or bread dough. Enjoy!

Happy Monday!

Kitchen Changes

In the spirit of spring, here`s to new and improved aspects of our home!

After months of mulling whether or not to paint our rental kitchen, we finally made the plunge this week. We picked out a gorgeous shade of gray: Benjamin Moore Gull Wing Gray -


It`s very difficult to decide on a colour based on the online shot - we had originally picked out BM Abalone, but when we saw the swatch in person, it was not very nice. It was more of a greige... the dreaded greige.

We will be painting, rearranging, and decorating next week, so I will be sure to share a photo or two. The trim will all be repainted in a bright white... freshen things up. I would love to get my retro dining set reupholstered in a poppy red - make the set look like it`s from a 1950`s diner. My pyrex collection will have a special spot in our new gray room... the colours will pop for sure!

In other spring-related items... join in on the weekend muck-out! Empty your drawers, closets, and storage rooms and lighten your load. I hope to get a room or two organized - so far the living room is done.

Happy Friday!

Spring is in the Air

I've made some pretty new changes around the blog - a new header, new background, and some layout and widget switches.

Basically, what I'm trying to say through all of the changes is that... I'm ready for SPRING! Here are some beautiful blossom shots to get you in the mood, too:

all sourced via weheartit

Remember, kids - follow me and leave a comment now and then. In order for me to offer a fun giveaway this week, I`ll need some feedback!

xoxo

Polyvore Loves

For this week's edition of Polyvore Loves, I'm working with my latest pair of shoes: Harajuku Lovers flats. I picked them up last week (I've been eye-balling them for a couple of months), but I wasn't sure how to style them. They are silver, you know. :)

Through Polyvore, I paired the shoes with items that I already have... although my navy shirtdress is from Gap, not Stella McCartney :). I chose said shirtdress, purple tights, a silver clutch, and a pretty scarf that picked up on all of the colours. This looks like a nice transitional outfit from winter to spring. I hope to rock this look over the weekend.

I included the shopping details this week, you might enjoy getting a ballpark figure about price ranges. I'm sure you could find a scarf for a little less than $375, though.

Items in this set:
Stella mccartney dresses, 210 GBP
17℃ Colorful Tights, $11
Harajuku Lovers Arosa Triple Buckle Flat Shoe, $42
Paparazzi Silver Sequin Frame Clutch, $18
Kabukisky Scarf - Ivory/Blue, $375


Happy Wednesday!

Secrets of the Trade

I'm going to share something with you today - the secret weapon that is known as Picnik. It's a terrific free web application. I use it to quickly edit all of my photos. I'm not a professional, so I like my quick one, two clicks instead of a multiple step Photoshop process. Here's an example of two of my favourite editing techniques on a wintery shot:

Original

Boost

1960s

You should give it a shot, it's quick and easy. You don't even need to make an account unless you want some "premium" benefits.

My personal favourite perk? An undo button.

Enjoy!

Before and After

Hope your weekend was lovely!

It's time for the big reveal - I had a lot of fun with my latest switcheroo. We have a little nook in our living room that I had made into an art wall. I've been trying to make our place more of a home, and I felt like this nook was a little too cluttered, with a mis-mash of prints and photos. I still have all of my prints and frames, but I'll be reworking/painting them and moving them to other rooms.

My mom found terrific wallpaper at Home Depot that she bought to line a china cabinet with. It's hard to see the true colour of it, but it's a shimmery pale blue with white dahlias and leaves. I tried to bring a little more symmetry and continuity to the space with a stack of my vintage suitcases on top of my trunk, and a few shiny odds and ends. The print is one of the prettiest ones I've ever found at a big box store - and it's on stretched canvas, which looks really lovely. The colours are very soft, and the nook has a vintage feel without looking "old".

Hope you like it as much as I do! Sorry for the glare and reflections - it's without flash, but our place is super hard to photograph - not much natural light. Enjoy!

Before

During

After

Happy Monday!

Pupper Love

I uploaded our photos from our trip to my parents last weekend - and I remembered some super funny videos of our dog, Sage. He loves to play in the snow, and he loves to play catch - great combination for a Canadian winter :) He's not very hairy, so his poor little belly gets awfully pink in the cold. He does crazy leaps and flips trying to catch snowballs, so I thought you might get a laugh or two out of these videos. Enjoy!




Happy Tuesday!