Oh yes, I've decided that I need to take a vacation.  As much as I love blogging, I am in desperate need of a break.  I'm so thankful to have the ability to step away for a couple of weeks.  I really want to enjoy a few weeks with the family, so I've decided to take the last two weeks of July off to do just that.

I will still be on Instagram and Twitter, but there won't be any blog posts.

Before I go, I wanted to share a delicious treat that we made last week on the BBQ!

Now, BBQ s'mores aren't anything new, but we'd never tried them before, we've only ever made them over a fire.  We were pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to make them on the BBQ and how they tasted just like the real thing!  And just as messy (but that's part of the fun, right?!).

At first we had the BBQ on low heat, but it wasn't working so well (or fast enough I suppose!) so we cranked the heat to high and we were in business!

We placed some foil on the BBQ and then layered the s'mores on top of it (we like to use Jersey Milk chocolate bars).  We didn't throw the top cookie on until the marshmallows and chocolate started to melt.

After the marshmallows and chocolate melted enough, we turned off the heat, added the top cookie and flipped over the s'mores, one by one for a little bit.

We seriously had so much fun, who knew making s'mores on the BBQ would be such a blast!

I hope you all enjoy the rest of July and looking forward to coming back at the beginning of August all refreshed!  Please don't go anywhere ;)

Be sure to follow along on Instagram and Twitter while I'm away from the blog.

Cheers,

Art in The Kids Bathroom and A Fun Feature!

Hello! First off, today you can find me over at Tiffany's blog chatting about our living room coffee table!  She's started a new series and I'm thrilled to have been invited to take part!  You can find the post here.  Take some time to look around Tiffany's blog, she's so unbelievably talented and has amazing taste.  You'll love what she's done to her place!

Onto the kids bathroom.  This is a project that I've been wanting to finish for while.  I've had the prints for some time, but needed to get the frames and just kept putting it off.

I finally picked up a couple from Walmart and got to work!

Our kids are super silly, they are so crazy, so I wanted to have some fun art in their bathroom.  I chose to go with black and white and went with prints that made me think of them.

The "Hello" print by Jen Ramos used to be in our kitchen.  The kids have always loved it and enjoy reading "hello" in all of the different languages, so I decided to move it upstairs. (unfortunately it's no longer available).

 
Shae's "I love you this much" print speaks for itself.  It makes me think of someone giving a person a huge, tight squeeze, letting them know just how much they are loved, so it was a must!

Stephanie's "Work It" print reminds of kiddo 2.  He has an awesome pair of glasses that one of his uncles gave him.  Fluorescent orange bands, super dark black lenses, they are so him and so is this print.

I'm not sure why, but I just envisioned them hanging with the bottoms all lined up and I'm so happy with how it all turned out!  That being said, the towel rack may need to go.  I used 3M velcro command strips hoping that they would hold up better to potential bumps than a nail, keeping them from falling, but kids will be kids and the rack may need to move (which wouldnt' be too upsetting since I could then center it).

All done!  Another to-do checked off the list!

Cheers,

Canadian Living August Cover Recipe - Blueberry Cornmeal Cobbler

I've got to say that I kinda love that it's summer and we are testing out all of these delicious summer time recipes!  So much fun!

Okay, it's time for the Canadian Living August Cover Recipe: Blueberry Cornmeal Cobbler.  Again, this was something that I'd never made before.  Truth be told, I'm not much of a fan of baked blueberries, I find the taste just isn't for me.  So I was interested to see how I'd feel about this dessert.

Turns out, baked blueberries are baked blueberries, though I am still not a huge fan, the rest of the family devoured and I mean devoured this easy to make dessert!  I did however thoroughly enjoy the biscuit topping....oh yes!  Crispy and tasty!

The dessert was really simple to make and required few steps.

I didn't have any ramekin dishes, so I just used a square baking dish, which worked out well.  Just make sure that you follow the directions and drop the dough evenly because it will cook that way, essentially making servings.

The dough itself was simple to make by hand.  Easy peasy!

After placing the biscuit topping evenly on the blueberries (or as even as you can get it!) you finish it off by sprinkling the entire dessert with the leftover cornmeal.  Then into the oven it goes for around 40 mins (I had to take it out before 40 mins, otherwise we would have had an extra crispy dessert on our hands!).

Serious baked perfection here!

I chose to serve it with some whipped cream, but I'm sure that vanilla ice-cream would have tasted just as good!

Even though I wasn't a huge fan of the blueberries, I would make this again because it did go over so well with the rest of the family and it was easy to make.  Perhaps I'd try using a different fruit base.  Either way, this recipe is a keeper!

You can find the recipe here and you can read what other bloggers thought about the recipe here!  Let me know if you give it a go!

Cheers,

*sponsored post but opinions are completely my own

Happy Friday - Enjoy The Simple Things

Hey, friends.  Happy Friday!

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely week and that you also enjoyed reading about our inspiring House Rules vinyl wall decal from Urban Walls.  I truly love it.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend and hoping that you will find the time to enjoy the simple moments that life has to offer.  Morning coffee on the deck, crafting, reading a book, working in the garden, playing with sidewalk chalk, going for after dinner family walks, throwing rocks in the lake.  Those little moments are to be cherished.

we escaped the city and enjoyed a beautiful day at our friend's cottage.  exactly what we needed #thankful

A few bits and pieces before I sign off for the weekend:

The lovely Sarah Richardson has launched a Hallmark Collection and it's a beauty!  You can read all about here it here on her site and you can also read a wonderful interview here on Alex's blog

Chapters Indigo is having one heck of a sale right now and I'm having such a hard time resisting buying a slew of items for our home.  Check it out here.

Lastly, the gorgeous Jillian Harris has just launched a clothing collection with Privilege Clothing!  So exciting!

Cheers,

Main Floor Hallway Update! Hint: Urban Walls!

You guys, I'm so unbelievably happy to have finally found something to put on a wall in our main floor hallway that I've tried and tried and tried to fill.

Enter: Urban Walls.  First off, I adore Danielle, who is the founder of this fantastic vinyl wall decal shop based out of Vancouver.  This fun and beautiful mama is helping us add character and personality to our homes with ease!

I'm a huge fan of quotes.  Always finding strength from reading them and am completely inspired by the power of positive words.  So needless to say, when I saw the House Rules decal I threw it into my online cart.  I love that it makes our house feel more like a home and totally feel like it was meant for this wall.

I ended up needing hubs help to put the decal up on the wall.  After taping it in place, hubs slowly removed the backing while I pressed the decal onto the wall by gliding a meter stick along the entire piece.

After that, I used a credit card to rub each letter onto the wall.  I ended up going over each letter a few times and in different directions to ensure that it adhered to the wall properly.

After we removed the top sheet, we got this:

I can't even begin to tell you just how much I love it.  The best part is how much the kids love it too!  Kiddo 2 is always reading them out loud and each time he gets a kick out of the last rule.  That will probably be the only one that he remembers, ha!

I decided to go with white because I wanted it to blend in, mission accomplished!  You can find the decal here.

I love that we've got some momentum going after a few months of not getting much done around the house.  My next job is tackling the gallery wall up the staircase.  I have five IKEA Virserum frames that I want to fill with family photos, of course, I shall share the results with you once they are all up!

Cheers,

Feature - Shea McGee!

I can totally remember the first time I spotted a feature on Shea McGee.  It was one of those moments when you immediately think to yourself that you need to see more of this person's work...clicking over to their instagram and blog.  Let me tell you that the good, just kept getting better!

Shea is the beautiful Principal Designer of Shea McGee Design.  You guys, this girl is a talent and a half!  She and her husband transformed their first home into an unbelievably gorgeous retreat.  Bright, airy and just breathtaking.

Her design aesthetic is clean, pretty and well, just spot on.  She takes risks and makes bold statements but in a subtle way, which is just so impressive.  I absolutely loooooooove their living room. Oh goodness it's stunning!  That being said, every room in their home is downright perfect, wait until you see their daughter's nursery!

Being that she's a mum, her designs cleverly incorporate small hands and hiding those little toys in a brilliant way.  She can not only create a beautiful space, but a liveable one as well.

With recent features on Domaine, Apartment Therapy and Style Me Pretty Living, one can only assume that this mama is on the verge of one amazing career!

Please say hello to Shea!

First, please tell us a bit about yourself:

Where to begin? I am a mother, wife, interior designer and yoga lover. We currently live in Southern California where we have renovated our first house from a big beige box to become a much brighter, happier home.

I originally studied Public Relations in college and a few years after graduation realized that deep down what I really wanted to do was design! I started taking classes at a local college and my hobby quickly blossomed into a business. So much so, that in the past couple months, my husband and I have decided to take the leap and run the design business together. As you can imagine, this has been both awesome and challenging to work together from home with a 1 year old helping us regularly!

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(insert store here) is having a close out sale, everything must go!  Without a doubt, you will sleep outside the store the night before to get first dibs when the doors open:

That’s easy! Liberty of London. I’d fly halfway around the world for that sale.  

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Go to colour, or a colour that you just can't seem to shake:

Navy. Walls, textiles, accessories, I seriously can’t get enough of it!

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Item, trend or piece that you're currently obsessed with:

I’m currently obsessing over patterned cement tiles. I am hoping to use them in our home or a client project very soon.

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If you could tour any home from a tv show/movie , which would it be?

Cameron Diaz’s house in the movie, “The Holiday.” I make my husband watch it with me every year as I pause it to analyze every room! It is the perfect blend of modern and traditional.

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Coffee table must/fav coffee table book:

I love Glamorous Rooms by Jan Showers because if you take the paper cover off, it is leopard print.

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Coffee or tea:

Neither.  I love my Diet Coke.

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Cupcake or donut:

Donut.

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Topknot or beach waves:

Beach waves. 

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I promise, you will want to follow Shea on instagram!  The photos she shares are swoon worthy!  You can find her blog here.  I'm looking forward to watching this gal's career grow and grow, such exciting times!

Thanks so much for taking part, Shea!

Cheers,

PlaidFox - A Canadian Online Home Decor Shop

If you live in Canada (like me) and are passionate about home decor (like me) then chances are that at some point, you've found a fabulous home decor item online and you immediately throw it into your "cart".   Then it comes time to checkout, since your beloved item is being shipped from outside of Canada, you're hit with astronomical shipping & duty charges.  Bugger.

Enter PlaidFox.  PlaidFox is a new online retailer here in Canada.  Yes.  Clean up your coffee that you just spit out and read this.

PlaidFox.  Online home decor shop with an ever growing selection here in Canada.  I'm pretty sure that your day has officially been made.

A couple of weeks ago I received a lovely email from the PlaidFox team asking if I'd be willing to write about their online shop to help celebrate their launch.  A quick peek at their website and you guys, I was super impressed.  What got me was that they mentioned that the shop was not yet full, but oh my goodness, it was so full of fabulous items already!

Amazing selection, great detail, fantastic prices.  This store is looking mighty fine.  The team has taken their time with this and they seem to have covered every little detail and more.

First order of business....you better believe I tried out their Style Test, something that the team is super excited about.

After answering the questions, the test gave me two "styles" and one is pretty much our living room, the other our family room.  So basically it knows me better than I know myself! ha!

French country:

You all know that I adore this style.

My secondary style was coastal.  You guys, I have to admit that this really did make me smile.  Our family room has been such a troublesome room for me.  I've had plan upon plan upon plan for this room and nothing has stuck.  It's felt "off" for so so long.  That is, until a few weeks ago when I finally decided to just go for the coastal, cottage feel that I oh so love....with a twist of course! 

So fun!  After you're given your style, it will give you the option to "shop this style" bringing you to a filtered page of items you will love!

I've gone ahead and pulled a few of my favourite picks for each:

French Country

Top row: 1/2/3

Bottom row: 1/2/3

Coastal

Top Row: 1/2/3

Bottom Row: 1/2/3

You can go ahead and take the test yourself here.  And of course, I'd love to know if you think the results were bang on.

I'm looking forward to placing my first order with PlaidFox in the near future.  The problem though, what to buy?!

You can find PlaidFox here.  You may also want to check out their inspiring blog, The Den and you can go ahead and follow them on twitter, instagram, facebook and pinterest for everyday home decor inspiration!

Cheers,

*sponsored but opinions are completely my own

Happy Canada Day!

Hey friends!

Just quick post to wish my fellow Canadians a very happy Canada Day!  I hope you are enjoying celebrating this amazing country of ours!

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Cheers,