You saw it coming, didn’t you?
Well, first here is a little bit of background for the new faces. I go totally crazy over horizontal stripes – just crazy I tell ya! I generally love bold and graphic prints and had this great vision for my office last year and stripes were a big part of it. Well, turns out this vision wasn’t exclusively for my office but for my whole house! (Even if that wasn’t the original plan).
So yeah, I just couldn’t resist migrating this fabric covered bulletin board downstairs.
Every time I change our front entrance table I try to add some hight to the setting. There is nothing else on the wall, and without something with a bit of height to it the table will just disappear. It’s been tricky to find tall stuff, but sometimes a vase of branches or a picture frame leaning against the wall does the trick. Another option would obviously be to actually hang something on the wall, but I’m not ready to commit to one look or to holes in the wall just yet!
When we came back from vacation I felt like our downstairs needed a little somethin’. Some visual impact! By the way, isn’t it incredible how a vacation or change or scenery makes you look at your own house differently? It’s so cool to gather inspiration elsewhere!
OK, so back to the stripes! I love how they make our old house seem more youthful and alive. Not to mention that the stripes coupled with fresh green flowers make me feel like I’m at vacation. You know, instead of having a foot of snow outside with a 3 foot icicle hanging from our eavestrough. Not even joking.
Because the stripes are so graphic and “in your face” I picked up monochromatic flowers so that there aren’t competing points of visual interest. The fresh green (mystery) flowers are paired with darker toned banana leafs. Sometimes the flowers are the star, but in general I love picking one colour scheme for my flowers. It is much more streamlined and modern and is a great way of creating a cohesive setting or vibe.
Of course I like to balance the modern out with something rustic and I accomplished this by putting the flowers in one of my antique sap buckets. Since the bucket has clean lines I think this pairing works very well!
I did not want to add too much clutter since this area normally has some keys or sunglasses or whatever on it. In anticipation of Valentines Day (yay!) I just added a single woven heart.
Take that winter! It’s beginning to look like summer in here!
Do you ever have a random but magical moment that comes very unexpectedly but sticks in your mind for a long time? I love when that happens!
These moments are normally completely simple and the greatest gift is that they happen out of the blue. It’s like a bonus that you didn’t see coming. Just: “Boom!”. Magic.
We’ve been back from vacation for 3 weeks now (and that’s just craziness!) and I often think back to this one special afternoon walk that I took in Thailand. I will take you to this moment with me, but first turn up this song to get the full vibe of that day! The song found us everywhere on vacation, like through live bands on sidewalks or on replay on the only English TV channels we could find.
Since magical moments tend to appear unexpectedly, this one occurred at the end of a rainy day. With it being our last full day on vacation we were pretty bummed out that we couldn’t take full advantage of the beach just one more time before returning to cold, dark, and snowy Toronto.
We woke up to POURING rain which sent our wishes for our last day crashing down. We braved the rainy walk to get some breakfast and then spent the rest of the day huddled together in our bungalow. Napping, reading, playing Jenga and peeking out the window every now and then to see if it was clearing up yet. OK, to be completely honest, it was kinda nice to be forced to do nothing for a day!
Later in the afternoon my cabin fever set in and the rain cleared up just enough that I grabbed my camera and went out on a solo excursion along the beach.
What was so magical about this walk? Aside from the fresh, post-rain island air it was all the dogs that followed me along on my walk! There were so many dogs everywhere in Thailand (cities, streets, beaches, sleepy towns… everywhere) and we affectionately referred to this particular beach as “Mutt Beach”
The moment I stepped outside I was greeted by a sleepy puppy who decided to walk along for a little bit. Then a little bit further on he got tired or bored and passed the torch to another curious pup. This kept happening all along my walk! It was like they welcomed the distraction in between their naps.
The weird thing was that the dogs were not very social and they didn’t like to play or interact. I swear they followed me around but made sure that they remained very cool and blaze about the whole thing. Like they didn’t want me to know that they noticed me! I would call them over and make kissy sounds and take photos of them but they were very stubborn and chose to ignore me.
You see this guy here – he’s gorgeous right? Yeah, he totally ignored me! Gave me the cold shoulder.
This next little dude did not like me at all! The poor thing was very skittish and nervous and made the most pathetic sounds. Just look at that worried look on his face. If only he knew I just wanted to be his buddy!
I walked for about an hour each way and had to stop under random bushes or decks to hide from the rain. If I didn’t have my camera with me I might have just walked IN the rain!
There were so many different kinds of mutts, but his one was the least mutt like. Funny how the most pedigree dog of them all was the only one who wanted to play and interact. I guess the mutts are the snobs in the canine kingdom?
Here is a glimpse of Stripy Towel, who now, by the way, rests somewhere on the island of Koh Samui. RIP good friend … If you are a germaphobe like me you will most certainly have thought about the fact that the dogs do their business right on the beach and then silly tourists go lay down on it. That may or may not have been part of Stripy Towel’s final demise.
I guess it’s true what they say “It’s a dog’s life”.
Thanks to the pups of Mutt Beach for turning a yucky rainy day into a magical experience!
… but lucky for me the person I’m copying won’t ever sue me! So in total and full disclosure I will confess to you guys today that my love of ever changing vignettes did not develop purely by accident or through my own creative genious. Nope, the inspiration is 100% my mom (Insert: “Aaawwwww!”)
She has this beautiful talent of creating pretty little corners throughout the house – like this one in an upstairs hallway. Every time I visit my parents I am excited to see what she has done because I kid you not: these vignettes are always changing.
Of course you need a lot of props to pull this off, and she has a whole prop closet that she stores the things in that she’s not using at the time. Oh and don’t you worry, I’m working on my own prop closet (my husband has my mom to thank for that one!).
What I love about changing things up is that it gives us the chance to celebrate different seasons. If you want to create a vignette you can gain a lot of inspiration in terms of colours and texture by just looking at what nature is doing outside and then bringing those elements into your home.
Now how do you make your own vignettes? Just by looking at these pictures I see a few themes already:
- cabinets, side tables, benches or butlers’ trays to set the scene
- little lamps
- pots with plants or flowers
- leaning picture frames or mirrors against the wall
- random items like a bowl, ceramic birds or woven hearts
So simple we can all do it!
Oh and flowers – ALWAYS fresh flowers!
Scattering books and magazines all around the place makes a home look interesting and lived in. But remember not to just leave them as props: actually reading them is fun too!
I am so in love with this quote from the above picture! I think it perfectly sums up how I feel about “home”
The quote is from this book and you have got to check it out! Incredible photos of houses and families and people living in their home.
Does your decorating style reflect the style of the home you grew up in? Perhaps it is because we associate a certain style with HOME and now we crave it in our own homes? I know that’s true for me!
I sorta kept a secret from you guys. Well, it wasn’t exactly secret, but rather that I was too busy living in the moment to blog about it. You see, I turned 28 on Sunday. Yip. True story! 28 Years wise.
We cool now that I’ve come clean? Thanks, I feel much better!
The day started with a leisurely breakfast in bed (gotta love weekend birthdays!). My parents and brothers came over for coffee and cake (Coffee flavoured double cream cake if you must know). Once they all left D and I ventured out for our first ice skating of the year!
There is a wonderful little ravine a couple of blocks from our house. A real estate agent from the community creates and maintains a couple of outdoor skating rinks there during the coldest winter months. Sooooo lovely! There are also some hills for tobogganing, but I have not tried them…yet.
It was sooooooo cold that day! How did I luck out with a birthday that was -22 celsius?? I was born on a very hot summer night and my mom always talk about how incredibly hot it was the day I was born. When I was a kid my birthday was in the middle of summer, and also during track season. I have memories of running around barefoot and I can almost smell the freshly cut grass!
But now it is winter. There is snow. It is fa-reeeezing.
I still love getting outside – you know how magical fresh air and some natural light can be, right? So to prevent cabin fever, Derek and I headed out with our skates in tow.
Side note: I bought these skates last winter but never actually used them. So my birthday was their inaugural skate!
Side note to the side note: I have never ever used hockey skates before – they were fun!
Isn’t it pretty? You should see it at night – there are twinkly lights in the trees!
Stick to the rules: Rough pick up hockey on the one side. Peaceful skating in circles on the other side.
These are not my boots. But I really like them!
I was a little bit nervous because I am not the most experienced skater and part of me was afraid of falling and breaking a wrist or bruising my ego. I had visions of 7 year olds skating circles around me! But I am proud to say that I only came close to falling once, and never actually did fall! Phew! Maybe all that rollerblading in the summer helps because I totally hit my stride and enjoyed skating around and around.
We were seriously bundled up – I wore 2 pairs of pants, 4 tops, 2 pairs of mittens. The perfect cure for the cold is of course a steaming hot cup of cocoa!
We parked ourselves on the benches and enjoyed some post-skating-bday-hot-cocoa! Maybe when you get older you can still feel like a kid??
And PS. Can I just add that my birthday ended perfectly with a Steelers victory! Yay – we’re going to the Superbowl! Thanks dudes 
Let’s talk dry lips… because I don’t know about you, but with this winter air my lips tend to be very dry! I have lip balm hidden all over the place: in all my coat pockets, in my purse, on my desk, and a few floating around throughout the house.
Aside from the cold, windy weather outside, dry lips are caused by constant dry air circulating through our homes and workplaces. I am personally a big lip licker and lip biter, so that is not helping either! Hey, I’ve even learned over time not to buy deliciously flavoured lip balms because otherwise I will be lickin’ even more!
The thing is though, sometimes my lips get so dry, or even chapped, that constant lip balm application just doesn’t do the trick. Yeah, some exfoliating needs to happen!
I found a very easy home remedy for treating dry and chapped lips. It seriously takes only 2 minutes, so this one is very doable. Plus the beauty is, once your lips are nicely exfoliated they will be very smooth and kissable!
What do you need? Only two ingredients, and you may already have them in your kitchen.
Honey!
And sugar!
Mix 2 parts sugar with 1 part honey.
Apply to your lips and leave it on for a couple of minutes. Then use your fingers to lightly rub the mixture on your lips to remove all that dry skin. Be careful not to damage your lips, so be gentle! If they are already severely chapped you could actually remove large layers of skin by being too rough.
My favourite part is licking the sugar and honey off my lips afterwards – mmmmm so sweet! Remember to apply lip balm once your lips are clean to seal in that moisture. I personally love the Burt’s Bees line especially the coloured lip gloss (and the SPF 8 sun protection).
You may need to do this a few times (perhaps a few days apart) before your lips are fully restored.
Bonus Tip: Remember to drink lots and lots of water to keep your body nicely hydrated. Dry lips are often a sign that you are not drinking enough water.
Pucker up!
Yip!
With 1 ferry, 1 airport hotel, 3 flights,
a snowy welcome home,
5 loads of laundry,
2 jet-lagged mornings of being fully awake at 3am,
and 1 workday behind me
I am finally starting to wrap my mind around the fact that we are home!
Vacations are weird because sometimes you are not able to fully understand what you got to experience and see until you are home, where the contrast between your vacation and your life is so much more in your face!
It is an understatement to say that we had an incredible time! Derek and I talked a lot on our trip about how travelling and various life experiences add so much to the way you perceive life. As I sit here today I feel so much richer in life experiences than I did a month ago. There is no limit to how much you can experience (and it does not need to be on the other side of the world). Every time you step outside of your bubble you add to your life view. And that is beautiful.
Sorry for the psychobabble, but my head is still spinning!
I have one question for you though: How on earth do you show off a nice tan when winter forces you to be covered from head to toe???
PS. It’s nice to be back
A brand new year brings 4 new seasons to revel in!
I love how a new year gives a clean start, but I also love that the seasons are so consistent. No matter what this year may bring, there is one thing that we can count on: winter will turn into spring. Spring will turn into summer. Summer will turn into fall. And fall will turn into winter again, bringing it all full circle!
Seasonal decorating is great fun and it sort of forces us to change things around! As the seasons change my front entrance seems to change as well. Here is a look back at the looks of last year’s four seasons….. kind of makes me excited to take down my Christmas decorations and set up a new look!
Hey guys!
Since I am away on vacation I thought I would invite Allie over to show us her (amazing) photos of her honeymoon in Thailand last year . (By the way, is so weird to say ‘last year’ when referring to 2010!). Maybe it will give you guys a glimpse into what I may be doing right now. Thanks Allie for sharing your memories with us – reading your post has me SO excited about our vacation!!
I was too excited when Nienke asked me to share my experience with you while she is traveling. It was extremely difficult to narrow photos down to a few from the hundreds we took. It was just as difficult [or rather impossible] to find a decent close-up where I am not in a bikini – sorry – but I wanted to introduce myself & give you a face to put with the “voice”.
I’m Allie, & this is Dave. We spent three weeks in Thailand last March on our pre-wedding honeymoon. What drew us to Thailand was the beautiful culture & amazing rock climbing. I decided to share a few cherished moments & overall feelings about our time there through photos. After all, moments make up our days, which make up our lives.
The View
Like I mentioned, climbing brought us to Thailand, & one of the best aspects of climbing is reaching the top. No matter where you are, it always looks [& feels] amazing.
Seclusion
The only way to Tonsai is by long-tail boat. Once there, the “roads” are dirt. No cars. No noise. No pollution. Just people & nature. We could just be & savor each moment.
Beauty
From the mischievous & fearless monkeys
to the bold elegance of a flower
to the softening of the sky,
Nature made herself known, & you couldn’t deny her beauty.
Simplicity
Our accommodations were not quite this primitive, though we were rooming with a tree frog. We cherished embracing simplicity & not just in our housing. Unplugged – no phone, no computers – we spent our days climbing, kayaking, hiking, reading & just lounging on the beach. It was time to contemplate & realize what is worth putting energy toward – how we would rather spend our moments.
The People
Beautiful. Kind. Happy. Initially shy of the camera, she quickly warmed up to the attention. Her mother owned the roadside food stand that quickly became our favorite. It wasn’t just the early morning muesli & our usual evening rice with bananas that drew us there. It was their warm greetings & sincere nature. We became more than just familiar & friendly; they seemed genuinely disappointed the morning we said goodbye & even sent us on our way with a complimentary loaf of banana bread to feed us on the plane. I miss our awkward, pleasant attempts at chatting in the other’s language.
Fresh Start
Each day the tides washed away the traces in the sand of our existence. It shocked us we were nearly always the first on the beach & to the crag [climbing walls] in the mornings. We woke with the sun & were rewarded with the day’s first footprints.
Love
I wasn’t surprised we didn’t become irritated or sick of each other until people pointed out that three weeks is a long time to spend every moment of every day together. We grew closer, even worked through a major tiff & learned a lot about each other in our three-week bubble.
I have been homesick for Thailand ever since Nienke shared the details of their vacation. I am so excited for her & Derek. She knows how to truly appreciate & savor each moment, & I know their experiences will be amazing. Thank you for giving me a chance to re-experience Thailand & letting me share this with you!
