In the span of a few days, I've gotten stuck in a carwash during the high pressure rinse cycle (it just wouldn't stop....poor little J was absolutely terrified), made muffins and forgot to put in the entire amount of flour, which resulted in me having to throw them out and a child who was not at all happy with me (banana chocolate chip muffins are basically a staple in our house and a little someone looooves them).  Plus a few other "what the heck is going on" moments, all added together have got me scratching my head and sticking close to home.  Mercury retrograde is almost over and when it is, I shall once again leave the house.

I kid, I kid.  I totally went to Homesense to make myself feel better, which was really awesome because I nabbed this book that was on my wish list!  Buying books at Homesense is honestly where it's at....you can usually save up to 50% if not more (in this case I saved 60%). Bam-a-lam-a-ding-dong.

Also, you may have noticed in the above pic that the chairs have moved.  Yes. I. Did.  The family room furniture has been rearranged and you guys, I'm loving it!  The chairs are not really in optimum tv watching position, but this room feels SO much better, much cozier, more open and I'm happy with the layout.  I would still love to get new chairs eventually, but for now, this will most definitely do.  I tried placing the chairs in front of the fireplace, the couch across from them (back of it facing the window) and the tv centered on the long wall, but again, the chairs were just too wide for this and I'm not quite sure how I feel about the fireplace being completely blocked.  Also, I looooove that the window is no longer blocked.  It's a good size and I feel like I can breathe when there isn't anything in front of it.

I've since placed a plant in a woven basket in the corner to fill that space, much better

I'm trying to decide what I should do on either side of the stone fireplace.  What to hang and if we should do some sort of faux built ins? I dunno, need to hit up pinterest I think.

Speaking of deals and being happy, thank you Walmart over and over again for selling gorgeous blooms at ridiculously low prices.  $4 a bunch.

The rest of house is getting a refresh as well.  I switched things up in the main hallway, brightening it up a bit.

And with that, I will leave you with this picture that I took of the purple tulips last evening. They loved the light from the lamp.

Now, have a good one and be careful of car washes if you choose to use on in the near future. haha!

Cheers,

Spotting Clearance Section Gems! A Simple #DIY

Last week I treated myself to a little visit to HomeSense.  I enjoy popping in to see what's new and for some inspiration.

Well, turns out that on this day, the clearance section was full of gems!  I absolutely love it when I find a great deal in the clearance section.  There are several pieces in our house that were clearance section finds and it never gets old, to find something at a steal of a deal!

First, I managed to get this amazing book for $15!  Yes, $15.  Done and done.

Then I turned the corner and spotted a piece of art that no joke, I had been wanting since I first saw it in a HomeSense preview months ago (I can't remember which one it was, probably fall/winter).  Anyhow, I guess I had missed it when it first hit the shelves because this bad boy was now marked down from $129 to $36, there must have been 4-5 red stickers layered over one another.  I mean seriously, there was no question, I was bringing it home.

I wanted to share this buy with you because it can be so easy to pass a clearance item up due to it's sometimes not-so-perfect condition, but that's the thing, you have to know when it's passed the point of no return and when all it needs is a little TLC to bring it's beauty back.  The latter was the case this time, wahoo!

So here's the before:

I covered the glass portion of the art with newspaper and taped it as closely to the edge as I could and took some flat white spray paint to the frame.  I totally removed the paper too soon and as a result, smudged the paint in some spots. So I placed a piece of card stock on the glass and butted it up against the frame and treated the spots that I had damaged.  I think I will take some paint & a brush to touch up some spots as required but otherwise, I'm super happy with the results.

And here's the after:

I could have gone even further by sanding down and filling the parts of the frame that were really nicked, but I just didn't feel the need to.  I'm super happy with the results and definitely prefer the white frame vs the wood.

I will be sharing some more photos of the entire piece once it's up on the wall!

Cheers,

I Have A Secret To Share and A Delicious Souvlaki Style Pork Tenderloin with Mixed Veggies Recipe For You!

Well, I'm pretty excited to share this post with you all!  As I mentioned last week, I've been keeping a little secret, though, you may have an idea as to what it is if you've clicked on the badge to the right.

I'm happy to share that I am a contributor to the Canadian Living (CL) Voices Network as a blogger!  This is honestly such an amazing opportunity that I'm ever so thankful for.  I absolutely love to blog and to share what's inspiring me and to inspire my readers.  I love what Canadian Living is all about and just so happy to be able to collaborate with them.  The post topics will vary and won't only be recipes.  I will be sharing a little more about what this means in the coming weeks, promise!  I will continue to share posts about interior decor and how my home decor is coming along, don't worry, those aren't going anywhere, the CL posts will be in addition to my regular posts. 

So today, I have a fun post!  The CL team shared their March Cover recipe with me to try out.  To be totally honest, I'm one of those people who rotates through the same 5-6 dinner meals each week (bad, I know), so when this opportunity came up, I was all over it and I'm pretty sure I saw hubs do a fist pump when I told him I was going to try out a new recipe for dinner.  Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, really, I do....I just don't venture outside of my comfort zone all that often.

This month's recipe is Souvlaki-Style Pork Tenderloin with Mixed Vegetables and can be found here.  I've made pork tenderloin before and it was okay, but this one was really and truly absolutely delicious and I can't lie, the way it looked after being cooked made me look like I was a pro in the kitchen, ha! Seriously, I really did surprise myself!  Pretty funny.  I was a little concerned about the oregano, thinking it might be a little overpowering, but that wasn't the case at all.

All of the ingredients are readily available (bonus) and you may just have many of them in  your cupboard or fridge already!  I loved that the meal not only required few dishes, but that it was ready in less than an hour.  I don't know about you, but the time from when the kids get home from school to when dinner is served can be so unbelievably hectic at our house, so it's a treat if you're not stuck washing a slew of dishes or slaving over the stove on top of everything else.

We enjoyed the meal with a side of rice.  I'm such a rice lover...hubs, not so much, but I can easily add a side of rice to almost any meal.   Though there wasn't any meat leftover, we did have some veggies leftover, which I enjoyed the next day with - you guessed it - rice. So good! ha!

I honestly can't recommend this recipe enough, I think you could easily incorporate other veggies if you wanted to and you could even add another pork tenderloin if you're having people over.  Any recipe that can make me look like a kitchen veteran deserves some type of award!  If you do give it a go, please let me know!

Cheers,


*sponsored (but totally my own opinions)

Pretty Greenery and Blush Pink Tulips

When we moved here just under two years ago, we were so excited to leave the cold, sometimes brutal, prairie winters behind (no offence to those of you who are from the prairies, but the cold was so.cold.). Well I know it's not possible but it honestly feels like we brought a touch of the prairie cold with us to Ontario.  Not only has it been a cold winter, but we have gotten so much snow!  Like, where are we going to put it, the snow banks are already over my head, snow.

But you know what's awesome?  Watching the snow fall, it always seems to magical and I do love how bright the nights are with the snow reflecting the moon's glow.

To top that off, tulips are now in stores and they bring hope that spring is just around the corner.  I picked up a bunch the other day, along with some other florals and greenery.  Whenever I buy flowers, I always ask the florist for some extra greenery, the greenery that they usually decorate your floral purchase with.  Sometimes they are kind enough to give it to me at no cost, which I absolutely love!  But they look ever so lovely in vases scattered around the house.  An inexpensive way to brighten up a space/corner and some of them last for weeks, an added bonus.

Are you yearning for spring? Or happy as a clam with the winter months?

Cheers,

Look Ma, I'm On Tv! Well, Sorta.

It's kind of hard to believe that IDS14 was already two weeks ago!  It was so fun to recap the show and revisit the booths through writing the posts (here, here and here) and looking at the photos.

I also enjoyed Mark Challen & Suzanne Dimma's IDS14 Highlight Video.  As I was watching, I spotted the lovely LeAnne and thought "I saw her in that exact same spot". Then a second later, what do you know...there I am!  Well, my back and it's only for 1.01 seconds, but you know, it's me, it's me!

I encourage you to watch the video (not for my cameo) because they truly do highlight some great pieces and booths (some that I didn't even see while there, can't believe it) and it's always a treat to see things in video vs photos.

You can view the video here . Okay, if you are watching for the cameo, it's around the 2:38 mark, but don't blink, cause you'll miss it!

Enjoy!

Cheers,

How Do You Get What You Want?

Okay, I know...you're probably saying "that's it?!" but stick with me.

I didn't intend on posting today, but last night while watching Daily Planet (one of our favourite shows), they were interviewing the company PixMob.  They are the company behind the awesome LED toques that you saw during the halftime show at the Super Bowl, that created an unbelievably amazing visual effect while Bruno Mars performed, seen here.

The company has been around for a while now and they have had quite a few impressive collaborations with performers and artists, but what really hit home for me was when they were asked something along the lines of "how did you react/feel when the NFL approached you for this" their reply was (again, something along the lines of) "actually, we just phoned them and asked".  The result: a few weeks after pitching their idea, the NFL phoned them back and said let's do this.

Jaw-drop.

You see the thing is that there have been quite a few quotes and messages floating around the inter web lately about pushing past your fears and just going for it.  But for some reason this one really hit me, this one really made me say "wow, it's true".  Talk about just going for it and seriously, what an inspiration!

I've had ideas or have wanted to collaborate with various companies, bloggers, etc but I never take the step and just ask if the other party would like to work together, which leaves me with nothing.  You know?  An idea is just an idea if you don't take action, if you don't just ask.

So I had to post about it, I had to share, because if that statement had this much of an effect on me, perhaps it will have an effect on one of you too and then you'll pass it along and so on.

Just ask, because really, you have nothing to lose.

Cheers,

I Was Overdressed, Straightened My Hair, Switched Things Up and Vow To Wear Pattern

the petals started to fall from my fresh blooms, sad to see them go

You guys, how was your weekend? Did you watch the Superbowl?  It was kinda one sided, wasn't it?  That being said, I did enjoy indulging in a variety of dips, pizza and chicken wings, guilt free, always a plus.

So fantastic that February is here, January always feels like a long month and though there were some exciting times this January, I'm happy to have said goodbye.  Too many gloomy and overcast days and so much snow (but remember, hubs says it's a good workout, so I won't complain. ha!).

I have a few projects that I need to get done around the house this month.  I'm going to write them out and tackle each.and.every.one.  Funny how by writing your "to do's" out you feel more accountable to get them done.

Last week the builder's contractor stopped by to fix some of the items on our 1 year list, including painting the ceiling where it had leaked.  Wahoo!

I decided to shake things up a bit in the living room.  Turned the Restoration Hardware chairs to face the couch head on (a simple yet effective way to give the room a different feel) and I'm testing out frames beside the mirror.  It bothers me so much how difficult this is for me, trying to find the perfect frames.  Why so hard?!  Thank heavens for Command Picture Hanging Strips which allow me to test various frames out.  I'm liking the square frames and as long as I keep the side tables beneath the frames and place something with height on the tables, it should work well.

I don't typically wear pants with a lot of pattern on them, I find that they accentuate my legs in a negative way, but perhaps that's just because I'm not used to wearing them??? Yes, let's go with that theory.  I adore these lantern printed pants from Gap and that they were only $9 so I'm keeping them and promise to wear them out at least once. ha!

My make up vanity got a touch of gold last week thanks to this adorable print by Idea! Event Style

I decided to straighten my hair for a party we attended last weekend, I haven't straightened it since last summer and couldn't get over how long it was.  Also, Hyatt says "hi"

So we went to the before mentioned party for which the dress code was downgraded to "casual" the day before, but word of mouth was that everyone was still dressing up, so hubs and I did just that.  Word of mouth was wrong and we were kinda overdressed, but I did love a chance to wear my heels.

Tell me something, why on earth is it so painful to stay out late now?  And late being midnight?  The day after the party included a lot of this:

Today little J and I will be writing out Valentine's cards to his classmates and I'm debating heading to Home Depot to see if they have any fiddle fig trees since a few fellow bloggers have had luck finding some there.  I also need to get some more command strips since I used a million and a half yesterday testing out various frames.  I kid you not.

Happy Monday, friends!  Make it a good one.

Cheers,