I tell ya friends, today was a great day.  The chairs, I mean the chairs arrived!  Oh goodness, I seriously did a happy dance. I fear that the men delivering the chairs may have tagged me as crazy but in the name of happiness, I'm fine with that.

I'm just so thankful.  I mean, it's just so amazing when something you've wanted for so long is finally yours.  Patience seriously pays off, believe dat!

So there they sit, ever so lovely in our living room.  Placement, yet to be determined since the Christmas tree is taking up a good amount of space.

 good heavens that room needs to get finished!

I'm now really wanting to get the coffee table that I mentioned before painted.  I know you probably also think that I'm a tad bit crazy for wanting to paint it a very, very, very light shade of pink, but I dunno...it's just something that I want to try.  Can't hurt right? I mean, in the end, if it looks absolutely ridiculous, it will be me repainting it.  So I'll take yet another chance.

I am however, having a tough time choosing the perfect shade.  You see yes, I do want there to be pink in the colour, but I'm not sure how much.  I don't want people to walk in and say "whoa, that is a pink table!" and then proceed to tell my husband that I need to get my head checked.  I'd much prefer a "is that table pink?" and you can really see them trying to figure it out, because they can't be sure without me telling them.  You know?  We'll see.  Gosh I hope I'm not posting about a major pink table fail in a few weeks! Ha!

So the table and a possible antique buffet or antique china cabinet are needed asap and this room will feel much more complete.  Then onto decorative items and art.

Cheers,

A Touch of Colour & Here Goes Nothing!

Last week I stopped in at Michaels to scope out their canvases and it just so happened that they were having a 60% off sale.  I grabbed one and headed home with a big plan.  I wanted to make something to hang above the couch in the family room.  I was a little ambitious and bought a larger canvas.  Yup.  You read correctly.  My plan was to paint three large intertwined circles with black paint and a wide brush.  I did just that and it was absolutely awful.  Like, how did I ever think I could tackle this awful.

So I painted over the entire thing with white paint.  I figured that now, I had nothing to lose and would attempt an abstract painting.

Now, I have to be totally honest with you.  I know nothing about painting.  Nothing.  I've always wanted to try painting, but I found it to be so very intimidating because I knew nothing about it.  I can only imagine how much there is to learn and all of techniques, paints, brushes, tips, etc.  I know none of this.

Anyhow, long story short.  I headed out again and purchased a few inexpensive tubes of acrylic paint and after searching Pinterest for a little inspiration, I got to work.

Another bit of honesty, I can't believe I'm sharing this with you.  But this is my blog and I'm doing my best to "keep it real" so, here it goes:

this is after I added a touch of black

It's pretty tricky trying to capture the true colours (they look darker & bolder in the 2nd pic that they do in real life) and texture (kudos to all of you who take amazing photos of your artwork).  It's not yet finished, but I think I'm getting there.  Some of the colours need to be toned down and such.

I think I'll hang it in either the living room or the hallway.  The colours just aren't right for the family room.

There you go!  My first attempt at painting.  I'll be sure to share the finished product with you too...Whenever that is!

Cheers,

Sweet Deal!

Friends, how are you doing?  Hope you enjoyed seeing our Christmas tree!

Yesterday hubs, little J and I headed to Kingston to get some shopping done.  We typically go there once every couple of weeks to shop at stores that we don't have here.  One of them being Costco, which is where I decided to go to get my Cozamia print framed.  It should be ready in 2 weeks....perfect! Just in time for the holidays.  I went with a slightly simple black frame.  I had hoped to get a gold frame, but alas, it wasn't to be.  I figure I can always spray this one gold in the future.  So that's done.

Then we stopped at Homesense (of course).  The store there is quite a bit bigger than the one here, so the selection is that much better.  They didn't have the table I was looking for but they did have two identical round, fabric ottomans with tufted tops. I eyed them for a bit but couldn't think of where I'd use them, so there they stayed.

Then of course, shortly after arriving back home I realized that they would have been absolutely perfect for the entryway.  Gah!  The thing is that Kingston is about 35-40 mins from here.  So it's not far, but it's far enough.  I seriously had to have them.  Not only were they the perfect size and made with the perfect fabric, but they were on clearance.  I die.  So I phoned the store, they confirmed that they were still there.  Today, little J and I headed back to Kingston to pick the ottomans up.  I literally giggled when I walked into the store and spotted them at the front.  Meant to be.  Even more of a reason to giggle, they had been marked down by another $29!  What?! Seriously, yes!  So I ended getting them for 1/2 the original price.  Again, I die.

the ottomans 

in place

The whole inspiration for working on the entryway was this video of Meredith Heron (that wallpaper!!!) on Steven and Chris.  I love how she says that the entryway is your chance to go bold because it's a transition area.  And although these aren't drastically bold, they add character.  The ottomans along with the three prints that I ordered will create a statement upon walking into our home, at least I hope they will! ha!

Entryway progress: we're getting there.

Have you seen the latest issue of Style At Home? You need to.  Christine from Bijou and Boheme kitchen is featured along with her living room.  It's unreal, you've got to see it.  She and Meredith Heron created an stunning kitchen that we will all be keeping in our mental rolodex's.  Go get your copy now!

Oh yes.  I've been working on painting this piece of furniture that we've been storing in our basement.  I'll be placing it beneath my Jen Ramos print in the kitchen.  Amazing what a touch of paint can do, isn't it?!

before 

after coat #1

And that's that!

Cheers,

O Christmas Treeeeeeee!

My dear friends, how was your weekend?  We purchased our Christmas tree, we relaxed, we enjoyed spending time as a family (something that hasn't happened in a long time on a weekend due to hubs being away).  It was lovely and I'm thankful for that.

First let me tell you a little something.  When we lived in Ottawa I absolutely loved taking a particular route home during the holiday season because it meant that we would drive past a home that to me, had the most unbelievably gorgeous tree in a room at the front of the house.  This tree was just the epitome of a perfect Christmas tree and as silly as it sounds, it was a dream of mine to one day, be able to do the same.  To have a tall tree at the front of the house.

Well, dreams do come true and guys, I'm so beyond thankful right now.

We placed the tree in the living room which has slightly vaulted ceilings.  This meant that we had enough room for a 10-11' tree.

Now, do you decorate your tree as a family?  Is there any rhyme or reason to your decorations?

When we first moved out, I had to style the tree.  Not anymore.  Now I sit back and watch while the kids do their thing and take over once they've had enough.  So, needless to say there is definitely no rhyme or reason to our tree and we love it!

Some pics from our tree decorating:

I may or may not have wanted to kiss the tree! 

this guy promoted me to head elf, I was a tad bit excited ;)

all hands on deck!

Also, I was totally excited to receive an email from Restoration Hardware letting me know that my chairs have shipped! Wahoo!  They should be here in the next week or so.  Once the chairs are in place, I can get a true feel for the room and then plug away on adding more pieces. Can not wait!

Tomorrow I'm off to get my Cozamia print framed and I'll also be stopping at a different Homesense to *hopefully* pick up a few things that I spotted the last time I was there for the living room. Fingers crossed!

Happy, Monday!

Cheers,

The Tree...It's Here!

Oh yes, happy day indeed.  Friday was delivery day and Friday was a day that made me smile!

It sometimes amazes me how excited I can get over the simplest things.  I think our neighbours are  probably happy that the tree has been delivered and is in the ground because honestly, they are probably so sick of hearing me talk about it! ha!

The decision to purchase the mature tree was made and so we headed back to the nursery and placed a "sold" sign on mother natures piece of perfection.

We had a few issues with the placement of the tree, my poor husband had to move the hole over about 3 feet, which was no easy task (so happy he loves me! haha).  Deciding on a design for the garden also took some time.  We went with a simple kidney shape and have added some large rocks and grasses to fill in the rest of the space.

The tree is in the ground and has made such a difference to the look of the house.  What I love most is how you can see it from all of the windows at the front of the house, no matter which one you are looking out of.

One of my favourite parts of the tree planting was how a little bird took a seat on a branch literally a second after we put the tree in it's place!  I screamed like a little kiddo!  It honestly made my day....take a peek:

Priceless, right?

Can I tell you just how much I've been loving my Hunter boots?  Honestly, don't know what I would have done without them the past couple of weeks.  I'm now looking to purchase some Welly socks.  I'm leaning towards these ones to help keep my toes toasty warm during the winter months.  I highly recommend these bad boy Wellies as they have done me good!

Happy Monday, friends.  I hope you enjoy one awesome week!

Cheers,

Deals and Outfits.

Hello, hello!

Last week, I managed to nab a few pairs of flats from Aldo at ridiculously amazing prices.  I was happy to add a nude pair to my collection as well as a style that I've been thinking about purchasing for a while.  I just couldn't resist since they were less than $15!  Flats are my go to style of shoe, I wear them 99% of the time.

Here's are some snapshots of a couple of outfits from last week and of course, I shall share the deals with you too!

two tone flats available here

nude flats I mentioned before, better pic of them below

flats can be found here (I managed to save an extra few dollars by waiting for a discount sale)

and then there were these, at less than $15, how could you not? I also bought this pair. So fun! More styles can be found here

socks were required last week, I love printed socks.  another fun pair here

also required last week....mitts:

I have such a thing for knitted mitts, I've had these for years (given to me by hubs grandmother) and just can't get rid of them.

 and just because I had to share, I spotted these fabulous flats at Gap.  plaid with hot pink piping. goodness, yes! (don't worry, I resisted temptation and left them behind)

Cheers,

Curb Appeal

Hey, hey, hey!

Did the temps dip at the end of last week where you are?  It was honestly so chilly here in the mornings.  We had to layer up and throw on some mitts to keep warm at the bus stop.  Unbelievable that it's supposed to be in the high teens again this week.

The builder finally gave us grass. As you know from this post, we've been waiting since we moved in for this to happen.

Curb appeal is something that is pretty important to us.  We both love how much of an impact it can make on a home.

The problem is starting with a blank slate can be pretty overwhelming.  I decided that I wanted to keep the front garden relatively sparse and simple.  The backyard gardens will be the ones with an abundance of florals and size.  Gardening is a lot of work and it can take a lot of your time to keep it under control and looking good.  At the last house, I found that I just couldn't keep up and I didn't want that to happen again.

I absolutely love grasses so my plan was to incorporate a few of them in the front as well as my favourite, peonies and then a few shrubs that would act as "anchors".  With my plan in hand, we headed to the nursery.

And soon after, we got to planting our new garden.

Grasses...check.  Anchors...check.  Peony...check.

We also planted some tulips and daffodils, hello spring garden!

Now, one major decision that we have yet to make is what size of tree to purchase.  You see, the problem is that trees are rather expensive. We missed the major sale and it doesn't look as though anymore will be happening until next year.  We don't want to wait until next year to plant a tree, we would most definitely love to have one now.

Did you see Sarah's House 4, the Curb Appeal episode?  Well, that episode is playing over and over again in my head.  She made a point to purchase a rather mature tree for the front yard.

What a huge and immediate impact it made!  We would love to go this route.  We wouldn't get as big of a tree (I can only imagine how much this one cost), but to purchase a mature tree vs a young one would be fabulous.

The October Maple in the picture above, it's the one I want.  It's stunning, just stunning.  The leaves turn a gorgeous shade of red in the fall (they are green the rest of the year).  It is definitely more expensive than a younger tree (this tree is about 5 years old), that would be about 1/2 of the size of this one.  We just need to realize that we may not be living in this house forever (military life), however, that's also part of the reason that we want to get a bigger tree, so that we can enjoy it while we're here.  The other issue is that because it's over a certain size, the 3 year warranty that the nursery offers is void if they don't plant it.  The cost to plant this bad boy is almost the same price as the tree.  We don't have a problem planting it on our own, but to not have the warranty isn't very appealing.

So, do we spend the money and get a tree that we can enjoy or get a small tree and just have a tree.

Decisions, decisions.....although I think I already know the answer to this one. haha.

I'll share more pics once we have the garden all planted.  We still need to find a great slab rock for the garden that the tree will be planted in (along with a few tall grasses) and we need to get some more dirt delivered.

So this week will be a busy one, but a fun one.  Dirt, trees and digging!  It's a process, but we sure do love it!

Cheers,

The Truth Is...

my own photo

Friends, it's Friday....what are your plans for the weekend?  Today, we got our hands dirty and started to plant our front garden.  Finally!  I've been dying to garden since we moved.  The builder was waiting for the house next to us to be bricked before they put in our sod.  That all happened this week and we weren't going to waste any more time!

The tree with the vibrant red leaves in the picture above is the one that I'm hoping to call mine tomorrow.  We're heading back to the garden center for the 3rd day in a row.  We are trying to decide if we want to get a mature tree vs young tree.  A mature tree will give us an instant tree vs having to wait a few years (or more) for the tree to have any type of size, but of course, that comes with a heftier price tag.

Okay, enough about the garden as I'm planning on posting all about it next week!

Here are this week's truths:

• well, it's no secret, gardening is happening and I'm thrilled
• the mornings are so chilly, we dug out the mitts, toques and fleece jackets
• it seems as though ever since I straightened my hair last week that my curls are looser, weird, but I'm very much loving the look
• incase you missed it, this post is a must read if your eyelashes refuse to curl
• I'm totally giddy excited for Christmas
• it feels as though I have a new perspective on blogging. I've realized I just need to keep it real and then the pressure is no longer there. we'll see how long that feelings lasts, but I'm hoping it's here to stay
• we're off to the pumpkin patch tomorrow, can't wait! first time ever!

Happy weekend friends!

Cheers,

I'm Baking....again!

Hello lovelies.  Hope your Tuesday is shaping up to be a fine one indeed!

So hubs has had to adopt a gluten free lifestyle.  All in all, it hasn't been too bad. I mean, there are some challenges to eating gluten free, but it hasn't been horrible or that big of an adjustment.  I suppose it's easier and I feel this way about it since it's just him vs our entire family having to change our diet.

Because of this, I now bake gluten free deserts for holidays.  I'm no pro-baker, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before, but I do love to eat a dessert or two, so finding gluten free pie recipes was a must.

I was happy to find this recipe for a gluten free pumpkin pie.  I use this crust recipe for my apple pies as well, which I made yesterday to enjoy with our not Thanksgiving but Thanksgiving dinner (we're celebrating Thanksgiving a little later in the month since hubs was away for Thanksgiving day, but still wanted to have a special dinner since it was after all, a long weekend).

The recipe is pretty straight forward.  The only issue I have is that this stuff:

It's crumbly.  No, it's super duper crumbly.  Thankfully I'm used to the texture now that I've worked with the dough enough times.  I quite literally warn my family when I'm about to roll the dough out so that they know not to bother me.  Why, you may ask?  Because honestly, it takes every ounce of my being for me not to go crazy!  I mean, if you just look at the dough, it will fall apart!

It's now a joke around our house when I give out the "I'm about to roll the dough warning", we all laugh, but I have to admit, it wasn't so funny the first couple of times that I put this recipe to use!

hubs managed to capture a blurry pic of the "look". consider this a warning! ha!

I use this recipe for the filling.  I just substitute gluten free all purpose flour for the all purpose flour.

The end result is a delicious apple pie.  It may not be a picture perfect pie, but it is delicious.

Do you do any gluten free baking?

Cheers,

One Thing Leads To Another...

Friends, how are you?  I hope all of you enjoyed a lovely weekend.  We didn't have a Thanksgiving feast this weekend since hubs was away (he's now bake and we're having a yummy roast for supper to celebrate).  We like to have him here for such occasions, so we will enjoy a Thanksgiving feast later in the month.

As you know, I got a little crafty this weekend and it seemed to have sparked a decorating fire in me.  Oh!  I also found the foot pedal to my sewing machine...I think I already mentioned that in yesterday's post though, right? I can't remember and am a tad too lazy to go back to check.  Well, if I didn't mention it, yes, it's been found so I can finally get to sewing the roman shade for the window above the kitchen sink. Hooray!

There is this narrow wall that divides the kitchen and family room.

the wall, to the right

I stare at this wall daily and have been desperately wanting to hang something up on it.  I think I may have just found the perfect solution.

I've ordered Jen Ramos's "HELLO Languages Typography Print"

-source-

I think I'm going to put it in a white frame, similar to the one that my "Love" print is in:

I have also been thinking a lot about the living room (when am I not thinking of the living room?!).  I originally thought of getting two chairs.

 and now I'm back to square one....not quite sure which I'd like best for the room.  I think it's just a matter of jumping in the car and going to test all of them out.  I am trying to convince hubs that we need to go to Toronto for a day, sans enfants.  I honestly think that I could furnish the entire living room in one shot if we did that.  Two chairs and a coffee table, done.  We'll see if I can twist him arm.

Also really loving this chair and this chair.

A very happy Monday to all of you, have one fantastic week!

Cheers,

I Got Crafty - A DIY

Hello, hello!  How is everyone doing?

So, I got a little crafty this weekend, it's been a while, but it sure was fun!

This craftiness was brought on after seeing pics of Rhiannon's amazingly gorgeous kitchen.  If you haven't seen the pics and read all about it, then head over to her blog or to Style Me Pretty, where her kitchen was recently featured (yay, Rhi!) to get your read on.

So yes, after reading this feature, I immediately fell in love with the rug in the kitchen.  Seriously smitten.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about it and then yesterday I got the idea to attempt making my own.  I headed down to the basement and rummaged through my stash of scrap fabric.  One thing about my fabric stash is that I only ever purchased fabrics that I absolutely loved.  So they are all my favourites.  I originally though of using patterned fabrics, but ended up using several different solid coloured fabrics, which I used to use to line my clutches with.

I literally just went with it, didn't really do much planning.  I decided to make rows of colour and then got to cutting the fabrics.  Of note, this used a lot of fabric, like a lot....and my fingers, they are killing me, but I think it was well worth it.

Here's are a few snapshots of the rug from beginning to end.

started it off with one of my favourite colours

adding pops of colour

half done

and the finished product:

tada!

I haven't decided where I'm going to put it but it will either be at the back door (off of the kitchen eating area, seen in picture where it's 1/2 done) or by the sink.  It's currently by the sink and I have to say, I'm loving it there.

It adds a fun splash of colour & a touch of girliness (which is much needed since I'm the only girl in this house!).

Since all of the colours in the rug are my favourites, I find that it's a perfect reflection of me....just makes me smile!  Perhaps I should have toned it down a bit and used more subtle colours...hmmm.

Cheers,