Great Caribbean Vacation

I'm back!!! My husband and I went to Caribbean for a good friend's wedding. My friend picked a cruise for her wedding festivities and then get married at one of the ports of call. My husband and I decided that my son would have more fun with his grandparents on the farm than with us confined to a boat. It was also our first time leaving him for longer than a couple of hours. He had never even done an overnighter before we left. The first day was a little rough but as time went on I knew it would be great for both us and our son. I also knew he was in great hands as his grandparents have raised four boys of their own and now have eight grandchildren.

Our vacation was great though not as relaxing as I thought it would be as an adult vacation. Even though we didn't have to think about nap schedules and 8 pm bed times we still had to keep a schedule for excursions, dinner times, and making it back to the ship before it left for the next island.  We got to see six islands in seven days. The six islands were Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. It was incredible. We also did two excursions: a hike near the Pitons in St. Lucia and Snorkelling in St. Kitts. Both excursions were a lot of fun and the scenery was breathtaking.  We had a great time with our friends but were very excited to see our son when arrived home.

I only have two pictures to share because we misplaced our camera. :(  No worries, I am sure it will turn up soon.

Design Chaos

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Finally, after a few weeks of shuffling things around so that we can paint and redecorate some of our rooms, I am starting to get things back into their proper place. I am such a "type A" person who needs everything to be neat and tidy and in it's place so my days runs as smoothly as it can with a two year old. Also, have a place for everything means little hands are less likely to find it and I say "less likely" because he just seems to find a way to get things he really wants.

Today list of things to do keeps growing but I am determined to get them done.

First off, where did I put my new pens? I am so excited to use my new colourful pens and haven't yet since  I bought them a couple of weeks ago. With all the chaos I seem to have misplaced them and have spent the last half and hour trying to find them. Err! I hate when that happens.

Next up, paint the dresser for my son's new room. We are up-cycling an old dresser of mine from my university days. Hopefully the dusty rose carpet (from the previous owner I promise) we have to deal won't throw our colour scheme right out the door. What bossy carpet!

Then, I need to email the minutes from a meeting I had.

Lastly, I need to  gather everything we need to pack for our vacation on Friday. By gather everything I mean, pack for our cruise and then pack for my son's visit to his grandparents. My friends are getting married while we are on the cruise so I am also hair stylist and make-up artist for their big day. That means I need to pack all my make up, hair products, flat iron and curling iron as well as all my beach and formal attire. Trying to remember everything gets me feeling a little frazzled and excited for this trip at the same time. I am really looking forward to celebrating with my friends.

 Hopefully, by tomorrow we can start to put my son's room together. Yeah! {Insert happy dance here}

The pictures I promise are coming. So here's a little sneak peak.

N's Big Boy Bedroom - In Progress

Caribbean Travel Must Haves

My apologies for my missed post last week, besides being very busy I haven't been feeling very well. I am hoping to feel better for my vacation next week. We are going to the Caribbean for a long-time friend's wedding so I am very excited.

In honour of my trip, I thought I would share my vacation must haves.

1. Great Pair of Sunglasses. Right now my dream sunglasses are these Tory Burch sunglasses They have a great shape and the perfect shade of tropical blue.

2. Add a little height to your beach look with these awesome wedges. They will add great length your legs.

3. I am not a total lover of flip flops but Havaianas have one me over. You can walk all day in these and look super cute at the same time.

4. A fabulous hat to keep the sun out of your eyes.

5. Fun Nail Polish for the superb pedicure.

6. Large Pretty Beach Bag for your magazines, books, and sunscreen.

The six must haves will keep you stylish on the beach so keep these in mind for your next beach getaway.

Stayed tuned this week because I hope to have another post for you this week to make up for no post last week.

A Very Busy Month

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. We decided to go on a road trip and redecorating a couple of rooms in our house all in the same month.

Last weekend, we went to Montreal to visit friends. As usual we had a fantastic time. We used to live in Montreal and miss the city and our friends so we try to visit regularly. The city is like little a mini trip to somewhere exotic where everyone speaks French, home to great fashion and shopping, amazing bike trails, fantastic food (especially cheese and baguette), extraordinary restaurants, and great culture. The city has that beautiful European like charm.

Montreal Recap
One stop we have to make every time we go  is the Atwater Market , one of the best markets I have been to with incredible selection. We tried cannoli for the first time and it was very delicious. Another thing we started to do now is to always bring a cooler so we can stock up on different cheeses, baguette, my favourite olive oil La Belle Excuse. It's my special olive oil that I use for dipping baguette, drizzling on pasta, or as salad dressing. After the market, we took a ride on the Metro (subway) downtown to go shopping at my favourite Quebec store, Simon's. My friends made meat fondue (one of my favourite special meals) for dinner on Saturday night. The fondue with wine, cheese, baguette, and great conversation was the perfect end to our day of shopping. Fondue is a great way to slow down. You cook one or two pieces of meat at a time leading to lots of conversation.
On Sunday we went hiking up Mt. St. Hilaire, QC which took about 2 hours and was 5kms. After our hike we had amazing Poutine at Le Fringale. Once we were stuffed with then went to my favourite supermarket called Marche Adonis before heading home. Marche Adonis predominately specializes in Mediterranean foods with connoisseurs in each department of the supermarket. I came away with fresh pitas, Greek feta, oregano from Greece, and a selection of Baklava.

 It was really great to see our friends again and enjoy one of our favourite cities in Canada.

Atwater Market in Montreal, QC

Mt. St. Hilaire, QC 

I am currently designing three rooms (My Office/Studio, Our Family Room, and my son N's big boy room) in our house at the same time. Crazy! We are slowly getting there. Right now we are painting two rooms at once, my studio/office and the family room. I still have to pick out the wall colour for my son's room, buy his accent pieces, and decide on drapes or Roman blinds. Can't wait to show you more of the details.

This weekend we are continuing to work on our design projects. Hopefully by tonight we can have my studio painted and start to move everything back to normal. Have I ever told you that chaos makes me crazy? Well it really does especially when you have been in the middle for a few weeks now.

Stay tuned for pictures and details of my newly redesigned rooms.

Recipe Challenge Update #2

The next recipe I made in the Recipe Challenge is the Chocolate Madeleines. They were really good and easy to make. The hardest part was finding a Madeleine pan in my small town. I wanted to have the true Madeleine shape that you get with using the special pan but I think I may have filled mine with too much batter {noted for next time}. Very delicious and would make them again. 

DIY Project Weekend

So excited it's Friday! My husband has been away on two business trips back to back spanning almost two weeks so I am soooo glad he's back. We both are super to stoked to do some DIY projects this long weekend.

  

Here's what our plan is for this long weekend.

- Paint our rec room in our basement. We replaced the carpet almost a month ago because we wanted to turn it into usable play space. I think we have decided on Benjamin Moore Gray Timber Wolf - 2126-50 but we are going to do a test sample to see if the colour is too dark.

Benjamin Moore Gray Timber Wolf 2126-50

The colour is not as dark as it appears here.










-Paint my studio. It is so in need of a update with yucky, yellow walls which remind me of a hospital and no one wants their studio/office to remind them of a hospital.  We are also moving my office into the basement so that we can move our son into his big boy room. I still have to do a colour test but I am thinking Benjamin Moore Sea Froth 2107-60. I am thrilled to have full say on all design elements since this is my work space.

Benjamin Moore Sea Froth 2107-60

The colour is not as dark as it appears here.










- Make a wooden slate headboard for the master bedroom. I have spent months flip flopping over an upholstered headboard or a wooden one. A couple of weeks ago I thought I had made a decision on making an upholstered one but as I thought about it some more I wanted something that was easy to clean (remember we have a cat and a two year old) so back to the wooden one. Then, yesterday while looking though one of home decor magazines I found a picture of the wooden headboard I want to recreate for our room. So excited to start that project.


-Make a fabric covered cork board.

-Spray paint some old desk accents gold.

Can't wait to get started and share some pictures! Happy Thanksgiving! How do you like to spend your long weekends?

Quick Fall Home Decor Updates

Every day it is feeling more like Fall which makes me nesty. If you are like me, you love to change things up in your home at the beginning of each of the season with a few new items or repurposed ones. I especially love Fall because I love being warm and cozy in my house.  

Here are a few things you can do to update your home for Fall and not break the bank. You could do just one update or all six (completely up to you and your nesting desires).

1 Albers & Fab Meander Shower Curtain Gray 

   Our Home/Custom Colors Shower Curtain- Chevron Red Grey and White

2  Morihata Light Grey Ishikoro Bath Mat

   Shaw Living Penthouse Nylon Bath Mat

3 Sugarboo Designs Little Print To The Moon And Back

   Rifle Paper Co Un, Deux Trois Print 

4 Benjamin Moore Paint - Icy Purple TC-13

  Benjamin Moore Paint - Corlsbud Canyon O76

  Benjamin Moore Paint - Kitten Whiskers 1003 

5 Dwell Studio Ulysses Pendant 

6 Horchow "Shilo" Mirrored Side Table