With the holidays being right around the corner, it's time to start thinking about what you hope to find under that gorgeous tree of yours!  And well, if you're in the market for a new pair of shoes or boots, you'll want to be sure to check out Poppy Barley and to add a pair of their fabulous, custom footwear to that list of yours!  An investment, I assure you, that you will not regret!

This past weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to check out the Poppy Barley line in person.  Poppy Barley is a phenomenal, custom fit (yes, custom fit, no more squeezing your calves into boots, yay!) Canadian shoe company that was founded by sisters, Justine & Kendall.

J & K decided to launch their fabulous company after discovering a void in the Canadian shoe market for custom fit footwear.  The story of how their company came to be is amazing and inspiring!  You have to take a peek at the virtual Poppy Barley timeline.  Hint: Justine's vacation to Bali played a key role in the birth of the company.

I first spotted their footwear in a photo posted by  Holly, from In the Fun Lane.  G-or-ge-ous.  It was one of those moments when you immediately click over to find out more about these shoes that have stolen your heart.

That's when I learned that the company was founded by these two talented Canadians (from Edmonton!) and that they not only design and make gorgeous flats, but their boots (heeled, flat and ankle) are just as swoon worthy.  But the best part has to be that their footwear is made to order, designed to fit you perfectly (they now offer ready to wear as well).  Awww yeah!  No more struggling to zip your boots up or gaping spaces around your calves!

Fast forward to this past weekend, the Poppy Barley team is in Toronto for a pop-up shop and quite simply put, this is an opportunity that I wouldn't miss!

As expected, their line is just as stunning in person as it is online.  Not one detail has been overlooked, from the impeccable stitching, to the beautiful soles to the bright coloured lining (blue!) to the perfectly placed and designed logo (their branding is topnotch).  The gold trim on the flats, the gorgeous lines on the slipper flats and the sweet & delicate strap on the Mary Janes.  I.could.go.on.and.on.

The entire team was just lovely and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to meet them in person (this was their first time visiting Toronto for a pop up event).

While in Toronto, the team celebrated their 2nd birthday, what an amazing two years!  They will continue the celebration when they launch their men's line next month!  Bonus, ladies...if you love authentic mens shoes, you're in luck!  The Poppy Barley men's shoes will also be available in womens sizes!  Yes!

Custom fit?  Yes.  But how does it work?  Good question!  After you select the pair that's right for you, the team will then measure you for your custom pair.  Now, if you aren't available to visit them in Edmonton or at one of their pop-up shops, no worries.  You can easily follow the instructions (including videos) on their site to find out how to measure yourself at home and order online (fact: Poppy Barley is the first e-commerce company in North America to offer custom fashion footwear).

Once your order has been placed, it takes six to eight weeks to handcraft and deliver any pair of tall boots (four to six weeks for flats and ankle boots).  That's all there is to it!

I'm truly excited for the Poppy Barley team, especially after learning about how they found their factory, how they make their products and for the simple fact that their dream is becoming a reality, in a big way!  This is always something that makes my smile.

I need to know, which pair has caught your eye?

You can also find Poppy Barley on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Cheers,

Giveaway Reminder and Keeping Warm

Have you had a chance to check out the amazing Canon giveaway?!  You won't want to miss it!  It's super easy to enter and the prize is simply amazing.  You can find the post here.

It's unreal how it seems as though with a snap of the finger, winter is right around the corner.  This has honestly been the quickest year of my life!

 Last week Old Navy had an incredible sale.  I've been wanting a long toggle jacket for a few years now, but I couldn't ever bite the bullet.  Then I saw this one and well, at $59 I had to give it a try!

We are prepping for the upcoming winter season, getting the mitts and toques out, making sure we have matching pairs (just like socks, we seem to always lose one mitten).  Finding the kids boots and jackets, ensuring that they fit.

We added some Buck and Cook Buckdanas to our inventory this year.  Have you seen them?  Such a brilliant idea!  The kids think that they are super cool and I love that we aren't arguing over the fact that they need to cover up their faces to keep warm.  Sold!

Have you started to decorate for the holidays?  I slowly started putting things out at the beginning of this week, and well, now I can't stop!  Hello gold & glitter candles (from HomeSense)....

 Gold sequin reindeer.....

And Nutcrackers.

Do you ever send hand written thank you notes?  Or handwritten letters to say "hello"?  I very rarely do, but want to get back to sending some snail mail.  There's just something about it that puts a smile on my face.  Must do this more often.

Stationery set by Sarah Richardson - available at select Hallmark Stores

Have a lovely Thursday!

Cheers.

#SarahStyle by Sarah Richardson - The Book Launch Party

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Sarah Richardson, her lovely team and their amazing work.  What they do is absolutely incredible.  The spaces they transform always leave us wanting more!  Right?!  So needless to say, when Sarah publishes a book, it's kind of a big deal.

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity of celebrating the launch of Sarah's very first book, Sarah Style.

#SarahStyle is a breathtaking compilation of stunning spaces and design tips, with each chapter focusing on a specific room of the house (absolutely brilliant).  You will find encouraging words on how you can achieve the look you are going for with ease, be it for your entry, office, dining room and more!  It is truly gorgeous and inspiring from front to cover (fact: Sarah envisioned a striped spine for her book from day one and it's no wonder why!  It looks amazing).

There were some familiar faces in the crowd at the party, including some fellow bloggers, Sarah's team, clients, designers and more.  The atmosphere was fabulous.

Tim, Laura, Jen & Jen

Sadly, I wasn't on my blogger "A" game once Sarah arrived that evening and I didn't get a photo of her, other than this one as she was giving her speech.  But seriously, how did I not get a photo of her?!

I was impressed by the fact that it took Sarah and Simon & Schuster just one year from start to finish to get this book on the shelves!  Can you believe it?!

The glossy pages are full of colourful images and unbelievably inspiring spaces for all tastes and styles.  I literally gasped when I first opened it!  All of those images that I've pinned and torn from magazines are all neatly and beautifully compiled into this amazing book.  You can learn more about the book here, on the Simon & Schuster page.

Sarah's goal when writing the book, was to inspire YOU to create a beautiful home, and well, I'm pretty sure that anyone who purchases this book will be doing just that with the help of her achievable tips.  #truth

Have you picked up your copy?

And just a friendly reminder to check out the Canon post!  You can enter to win an amazing Canon Selphy printer!  Print all of your photos from your phone or camera right at home.  Super simple to enter too!  You can find the post here.

Cheers,

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED - Canon #BabyMoments - Capturing Those Precious Moments Like a Pro & a Giveaway!

Every once in a while you are introduced to something that you can't wait to spread the word about. You guys, if you have children, are expecting or know someone who has kids, then you are going to love today's post!  AND!  There's a fabulous giveaway for an amazing Canon Selphy Printer (oh how I wish I could enter! ha!).

When we first became parents, we did what almost every parent does.  We invested in a fantastic camera with the intention of capturing all of those amazing milestones and precious moments in our children's lives.  I have to admit, we were pretty giddy about the camera (a Canon Rebel).  We totally envisioned ourselves getting up close and personal with our kiddo, click, click, click...moment captured...best parents evaaaaa.  Then we would load the pictures onto the computer and realize that we had completely failed at taking a great photo.  Horrible angle, terrible exposure and blurrier than blurry.

So then we took the time to read the manual.  The problem, it totally did not sink in for us.  We didn't have the time it took to really invest in learning how to use the camera, so, we did what most parents do and turned the dial to automatic and that's where it stayed for years and years and years.  You get the point! ha!

Fast forward to the end of October.  I receive an email from Canon, asking if I would be interested in helping them spread the word about their Baby Moments app (found on their Facebook page) that has been created together with photographer, Stephanie Robin.  I take a peek at the app and immediately write back telling them that I'm in.....because I've been there!  And I have a feeling that many of you have been too!

I honestly think that this will encourage so many of you to capture those wonderful moments and inspire you to move past the automatic setting!  What I love the most about the app:

The app is grouped into age groups from 0-12 months.  Click on the group that applies to you and you're then given several photo shoots to recreate.

The app clearly guides you from start to finish, from how to set up for the photo (get a white sheet ready!), to which camera setting to use and which lens would work best.  No guess work needed.

The app encourages you to try different camera settings, in time, this will make you comfortable to move away from the automatic setting that so many of us stick to.  

But what struck me is that though the app is intended for babies 0-12 months, many of the poses can be adapted for your children's current age (more on that in another upcoming post!).  I also love that they have seasonal and holiday themed shots, so you can recreate them on a yearly basis and you can see how much your little one has changed and grown!

I was able to test out the Canon EOS Rebel SL1 to recreate a couple of the shots from the Baby Moments app.  Can we talk about this camera?!  As I mentioned before, we have a Rebel, it's nearly 11 years old, so technology has changed just a bit since then, but I still loved it.  That being said (didn't want to hurt the old camera's feelings, ha!) you guys, this one blew-me-away.  I literally gasped after I snapped the first photo and checked it out on the screen.  Easy to use, the colours were outstanding, the picture was crisp and the screen itself didn't require me to squint or zoom in to see if I "got the shot".

For the first shoot, I got to work with the cutest little 15 month old kiddo!

We decided to shoot the Seasonal Fall scene, since, well, it's fall and little kiddos bundled up, surrounded by pumpkins and covered in cozy blankets is pretty much the cutest thing ever.  We found our location and got to work.

After capturing the above images, we decided to play around with different angles, while sticking with the original instructions.  A little flip of the camera was all it took....tada:

So absolutely adorable!  Our little model was such a champ!  We chanted and whistled and made other crazy noises to grab his attention, and we also brought a small pumpkin and apple for him to hold.  The quilt was a wedding present, given to hubs and I, we thought it would be perfect for the fall theme.

I definitely did learn a few things from this shoot.  One of them, be sure to schedule the shoot on a day that you have time and aren't in a rush to be somewhere, this will allow you to really take the time to get the shots you need.  Also, the "golden hour" is a great time of day to shoot outdoors, just as the sun is getting ready to set.  Focus on your subject, but then move the camera to center it or get the angle you prefer.  You do this by pressing down only 1/2 way on the shutter button to focus on your subject and then you keep the shutter button 1/2 down until you are ready to shoot.  Don't lift up your finger though, because then you'll have to start again!

Okay, super exciting part!  After you've taken your photos inspired by the Baby Moments app, you're going to want to print them out, right?  Well, Canon wants to help you do that....from home!  Yes.  One lucky winner is going to receive the Canon Selphy CP910 Printer.  Go check it out, you really want to see this beauty!  Gid-dy-up!

Here's how you enter:

Visit the Canon #BabyMoments page on Facebook, come back here and leave a comment telling me which pose you are loving the most. (please be sure to leave your email address if you don't have a blog, I want to be able to reach the winner!).

(open to Canadian and US residents. contest closes Nov. 19, 2014 at 9pm EST)

That's it!  Good luck!

Be sure to also check out Canon's Baby Moments Pinterest board for more inspiration.

Cheers,

**this post was created in partnership with Canon Canada.  However, please know that all opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any which way.

Holiday Entertaining Beverage Inspiration - Mint Tea Julep Mocktail

I have to be totally honest.  I am far from being the hostess with the mostess.  It's the truth, but I'm determined to change that.  I'm ordering Camille's book, I'm going to test a few appetizers and I'm going to be ready to invite people over this holiday season.  Yes. I. Am.

This includes beverages, of course.  What's party without a delicious bevvie to sip on between conversations?  Or during conversations.  Whichever you prefer!  I won't judge.

So when Nestea sent over a bunch of mocktail & cocktail recipes that are absolutely perfect for fall & winter months (iced tea in the fall & winter months...who knew?!), I figured it was my chance to prep for the upcoming holiday season by testing a few out!

First up, a delicious mocktail recipe (no worries, I will also share the cocktail version incase you are yearning for a beverage that contains liquor).

The Mint Tea Julep Mocktail is light, sweet and quite frankly, so delicious.  I am sure that your guests will be giving you two thumbs up!

 

The recipe is easy to follow and the ingredients are easy to find (super big plus).

Mint Tea Julep Mocktail

(serves one)

1 oz NESTEA reduction 

(to make reduction, bring 1 cup of Nestea to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer and cover pot until liquid reduces)

1 oz sparkling water

2 tablespoons chopped mint

1 mint sprig

crushed ice

Directions

muddle chopped mint in bottom of glass

add reduction & sparkling water

stir

fill to brim with crushed ice

garnish with mint

enjoy!

**For Cocktail version, simply replace the sparkling water with 1 oz of Bourbon**

I only made the one serving but I can see this being the perfect drink to set up on a bar cart, allowing your guests to serve themselves.  Print the directions on a gorgeous piece of paper with a stunning font, garnish the table with some mint leaves and beautiful glasses.  Perfection!

Let me know if you give this a try!

Cheers,

*Nestea generously provided the cans of Nestea and a mixology kit for me to use to make the drinks, they did not request a post.  I just really enjoyed the beverage and wanted to share it with you!