it has begun...

round one: whipped shortbread cookies.
only 3 ingredients in these bad boys...
flour, butter and icing sugar, whipped together, then packed into a pastry bag with a star tip. Easiest cookies ever.

random photos

love my city

it's true..

pretty colors.

what a ridiculous little face! I <3 him.


festivus for the rest of us.

snow = weekend projects

woke up to this silent winter scene!

moose was super interested in the crows hanging out on the power lines out front.

-made candied pecans on friday night! yum. recipe here

-painted my boring wood ikea kitchen cart a pretty green, had a great day shopping main street with Chelsea and Amanda.

-Checked out lots of antique and thrift shops, got free coffee at McDonalds (I LOVE their coffee, so very "drinkable")

- tomorrow is mandatory laundry and cleaning day.
I kind of feel like I miiiiiiight be getting sick, I have been going full steam for weeks now,
feeling a bit run down...maybe I will rest tomorrow!

hope everybody is having a nice weekend :)

Bathroom Makeover!

BEFORE: glossy blue paint on 80 year old crooked plaster walls? Former Tenant FAIL!


AFTER: looks waaaay cleaner and although I loved the old black and white floor, it was in really bad shape and was coming apart pretty badly. Originally I DID want to paint the walls a color, a little more interesting than taupe, but logically, i switch things around a lot, I need a neutral wall.
As busy as I am these days, this took me a long time to get done, (It's still not finished, I need to paint the top of the room!!! 10 foot ceilings: bit of a challenge)





This is the soon-to-be theme of the bathroom: creepy kitty paintings. I'm on the hunt when I get some spare time. this particular one is perfection.

my friend, the jewelry designer!

My good friend Amy (also known as Amis since grade 9)
got her website up and running now!
(done by yours truly! ahhhh! my first time setting up one of these things!)

ch-ch-check it out.

http://www.ahenwooddesign.com/

Her pieces are nature inspired and lovely, and she is incredibly talented!

I have some of her stuff and it is stunning, she did up a silver necklace for me with a silver pendant cut in the shape of the state of Alaska, people constantly ask me about it!! It's amazing.
xoxo

Becoming Burlesque!

My boss and I went to support a co-worker and check out her burlesque debut last night!
We had some wine and appetizers at her place, then we called/hailed about a billion cabs to take us out to east van.

It was SO impressive. It was incredibly refreshing to see normal girls shake their things and totally own it (In PASTIES, no less!) and the costumes were stunning! (I want a sparkly bra!!! waaahh!!)

Their performances were fantastic, each of them creative, funny, sexy and really well done and all earned foot stomping, hooting, whistling applause!

I didn't take any pictures unfortunately, as I was not allowed any flash photography, it was dimly lit, and my iphone camera just didn't do it justice.

It was really a great experience though and I am definitely looking forward to going to another show in the near future! We talked about bringing the boys next time :)

happy halloween

so much fun despite the rain!

photos by: http://boneyardphotogprahy.blogspot.com/

Pre-Halloween!

So excited! this is easily my favorite time of year!
*Despite the rain and wind...(wommmp wommp)*

Started decorating, carved, DRILLED and painted a few pumpkins

mustache pumpkin!

le sigh...

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/14/disney-cancels-pirates-of-the-caribbean-propoganda-layoffs/

Yes...read the article,...I now live with an un-employed house husband.

Financially we are okay, it could have been a lot worse, but it hit pretty suddenly, within the span of 6 hours he went from happily starting his day at work, developing a game he was was passionate about making better, to handing over his keys and company ID and taking home a booklet called "Coping with Job Loss". Yikes!

It was just one of those things that happens in his industry, no hard feelings, just so sudden!

The fact that 110 plus people lost their jobs at this studio yesterday is mind blowing.
One of my good friends said to me yesterday: "one door closes, another one opens"

we'll keep our chins up.

halloween 2010..

I ordered a package of 6 realistic looking crows, with wire in them, so I can strap them all over and incorporate one into my hair (which I might splurge and get done professionally, if I can tolerate being this blonde until November first, I'll be okay!)

Vintage dress suit: still in the works. I know I'll need to do some digging to get it just right.

The Husband is being "the Jesus" from The Big Lebowski... he knows I like a challenge. Good luck to me, trying to find a purple number like this:



I cannot wait to decorate our place, the fireplace has so much awesome halloween decor potential.

inspiration:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/

this is the site that keeps me inspired to stay creative, organized and make my home feel like home.

saturday project!

This was one of my July Value Village finds, the finish on it was a peeling mess, and I have been going back and forth over what I wanted to do with it...

I chose a vintage-style green paint ( it's not turquoise, I swear!) and went to town on it today!

OK, so it looks like turquoise on camera...I'm aware of and comfortable with the fact that I am attracted to these colors and shades! But I love this dresser now! I can't wait for it to dry and stick it back in the hallway with a cute bowl on it.

Total Cost for this project:
Dresser: $29.00
Paint & brushes: $26.00
Time: 3 hours

thrift store project!

I have been hitting up my local thrift store once a week for the past while, and I have found some interesting things! Two mirrors got a makeover last night:


I decided on "kelly green". I need to give the turquoise a break I guess.


Cute! I'm going to hang the other one with it, I need to collect more though, the hallway wall is big enough for a group of interesting mirrors.

It looks like it's going to be a good project weekend, maybe I'll paint some furniture!
have a great wknd!!

flippy cup kind of weekend

I'm too old to get university drunk like this anymore.

Pizza at 2 am was a great idea though.
happy birthday to Lars!

owww

I slammed my finger in our old weighted potato drawer and let me tell you...my finger is throbbing! I have not experienced such blinding pain in a while! Oi vey... the husband came running in, he thought I had chopped off a limb!

My finger looks like a "We're #1" giant foam hand now. Too bad it's my middle finger...

Today was the first time I worked from home for a full day, it was great and I got a lot done and the day flew by. The TV distracted me so it was shut off after an hour and the rest of the day was quiet and full of emails, orders and quotes. I made breakfast and lunch and had tea all day, talked with co-workers on msn and skype and got updates, answered questions and collaborated! technology is unreal sometimes when you stop and think about it.

new wall!

I ordered these vinyl trees off of Etsy, the seller is "NouWall".
I love them! Im pretty happy with how they turned out. Easy art!

I might scrap the birds, move them to another room one day, not sure if I like them with the trees, but for now it works!

home alone.

Husband is gone fishing! Literally, with his dad, so I am left to my own devices...hopefully I won't starve to death, seeing as he is the one who cooks :)

Thought I'd update with some pics I have taken in the past little while:

Coffee Table WIN!

I found one! It was ugly at Value Village, with a $19 price tag, but for some reason it was calling out to me! haha

It doesn't fit any of my coffee-table-criteria, but sometimes you just gotta be open minded when it comes to thrift store furniture.

Anyways, a layer of primer, a few layers of turquoise and a hefty (and extremely smelly) layer of clear lacquer, and voila! I love it.

I also snapped up this guy:

I wasn't looking for anything like this, but it was just...sitting there...and I kept walking past it..and there was just something about it....in my head I was just like "yep...I'll be taking this one too".

I put it in my hall, and it's great, the drawers are huge and we can dump all of the ugly hall table crap inside of them (keys, receipts, mail...you know). The wood is pretty beat up, and maybe one day I will paint it something fun, but for now I'm cool with the wood.

Next furniture goal?
Settling on a new couch with the husband...he wants a sectional, I don't. I want something retro-mad-men inspired, maybe with tufting and buttons!,.. he wants more modern-classic.

In the end, I know I will win, and I say that in the nicest way possible, he is wonderful and always lets me win when it comes to putting together the house. I could have never married a man who doesn't trust my artistic vision! <3

coffee table hell!

I'm on the lookout for a new coffee table. We have graduated into adults (lol!) and I have deemed it necessary that we now purchase a coffee table that reflects our dignified, adult tastes and activities (again..LOL).

The thing is, coffee tables are expensive! I'm definitely a D.I.Y kinda girl, but I need a solid base to work with, and this is where my problem lies. As much as I would love to find some shabby, beat up old coffee table, scratched up, but holding so much promise, on craigslist or at a junk shop, and go to town on it, sanding it, painting it, etc....I just can't find that damn table!!

Even the crappy ones are priced too high, and I don't like wasting my time bartering in most situations.

I did however, look at some nice ones at the antiques warehouse....they had a shipment of vintage Chinese pieces, and lo and behold this lovely one stood out to me

Perfect size! intriguing yet neutral color, drawers, shelf, this one has it all.

Problem?

Still over my budget. Even at 50% off (which is awesome!), I couldn't take this guy home, devastating! If I don't find something soon though (this damn ikea piece of trash and it's peeling veneer and surface bubbles from the lack of coasters, is just asking to be thrown out in the back alley..), I might reconsider.


I'm really digging the idea of a turquoise table. I love this. I think I'll keep looking for a makeover project...