Lend a Hand...

Hey guys - quick weekend post from me as I take a break from a few things I'm doing around here.


Michelle from Three Men and a Lady has entered a contest to win the job of writing the Good Mood blog! She needs your votes! You don't need to register, just give it a click. You can vote once every day (I do!). So lend a hand and help Michelle get the gig, will ya?

Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend & getting your fair share of candy! Happy Halloween!

Fancy Friday Love

Good Morning Friday... and hello lovely, lovely finds! My favorite part of every week!


Loved the reveal of Kate's staircase!

She is so stinkin' talented... and inspires me every time I look at her blog! I think I want to be Kate when I grow up!

Shannon threw a fun cookie swap with girlfriends last weekend...

Isn't her dining room adorable?

The painting in this photo that was on Oh Happy Day! on Tuesday has me inspired!

I'm just really loving yellow recently - that might be why this stood out to me.

I want... no NEED this map from Urban Outfitters!

I'm always looking for a fun way to keep track of places we travel to, and this has just won me over. Found via One Happy Day, this map is like a giant scratch ticket. Go on vacation, come home and scratch off the country you visited. I'm in AWE! I may have to order one...

I've loved watching Lindsay put together a this nursery for her beautiful little boy Oscar. Yesterday, we got the final reveal, and it's just as lovely as every other room in her home!

Love the giraffe... and that little birdie over the closet door (that you can't quite see here, but closer looks over on her blog!). 

So, Halloween this weekend, and we really have nothing planned for it aside from handing out candy with our friends this weekend (waiting for our little godson to be born!). We also have SO MANY exciting projects that we are working on and I am bursting with anticipation to share them with you all. I'm hoping we can make some serious progress this weekend.

Also - a couple things to celebrate today! Most importantly, Happy Birthday to B's great Dad! We're wishing we could be there to celebrate with you... but we are thinking of you (and we'll eat a little treat for you as well I am sure!). I'm also celebrating the fact that today I'm officially under $10K mark of student debt! WHOO HOO! There IS a light at the end of the tunnel! Enjoy your weekend, and with very little in the way of Halloween decor and festivities going on over here - I'm looking forward to seeing what all of you get up to!

*One last thing - don't forget that if you'd like to see a taping of Steven & Chris here in Toronto, head on over here and leave a comment! I have four tickets and really want you to go! I'll announce who gets them on Monday!

Perfectly Imperfect - My Own

After my "Imperfect" post last week, and the wonderful response I got from readers, I was inspired to start a new blog feature called "Perfectly Imperfect". No, I'm not going to ask bloggers to start sharing their imperfections... well not their personal one's anyway.

I started thinking about how it's not just our lives and ourselves that we often portray as perfect... most often it's our homes. We renovate, decorate and style rooms before sharing them on our blogs. It's not very common that we share photos of the way we live everyday; the way we truly see our homes. Let's be honest, between work, blogging, family and a social life, it's not always the easiest to stay on top of the house keeping, am I right? So what exactly will "Perfectly Imperfect" be about? Here's the DL...


I'm looking for bloggers to share rooms, decor, furniture, etc. in their home that may not be gorgeous, perfectly styled or decorated or magazine worthy, but that work for them and their family just the way that they are. Let's let others know it's okay and normal to not have a perfectly beautiful and styled home; that it's okay to have a less beautiful but functional home as well. Or maybe you just have a room that's a mess and you want to share that! Whatever works... let's share in the imperfectness of the places we call home. Afterall, as inspiring as all of these beautiful homes and projects can be... sometimes it's gets stressful when you feel like you just can't keep up!


In this inaugural post, I'm giving you a glimpse into the most imperfectly perfect room in our little home... our basement living space (in all of it's lived in glory)!



How it looks on any given day, with the dogs hanging out. Not "messy" just... used.

Okay, so the room is a lot more "pretty" than it was before the whole renovation thing started last December, but it's still a long way from perfect. Little details are missing like trim, the tile under the fireplace and paint needs touching up in places. The day bed is too large for the space (and just has an old duvet and cover draped over it), the nasty rug on the floor needs to go, we have a stinky dog bed in one corner and a crate in the other for a pup who likes to chew pillows. We also have some seriously huge entertainment pieces...

You'll never see my basement in the pages of a glossy shelter mag, but this is where B and I come at the end of the day to unwind together. The dogs loving having their big comfy bed, and Harley often likes crawling into his crate and curling up for a nap. It's a real family space that we can all spend time in together, and that's exactly what we do.


There are a couple of specific spaces that I look forward to completing the future... 

The little "closet" under the stairs has become the home to my old fridge from my university days. Perfect place to store some drinks for easy access while watching TV, a movie or (in my case) blogging. Directly next to it is this great seating bench that B built for me (inspired by Lindsay's in her kitchen!). It's basically done, I'm just waiting to find the perfect fabric to cover the foam (that we bought in July... darn!)

But that's it.. not perfect, not glamours and stylish and sparkly, but real life. A room in progress. A room we live, laugh, love and hang out in. A room where the dogs can play without getting into (too much) trouble. A room that will one day be more stylish than it is right now... but for now, it's perfect just the way it is!

I've already got some really great bloggers who have been oh so sweet and agreed to contribute to this new feature. I'm so looking forward to seeing what some other bloggers have to share... how about you?

Nuts N' Bolts: Guess-timating 101

After another blogging hiatus, I'm back and with some content that can hopefully be useful to each and everyone one of you. 


Having a solid background in construction has given me the 'privilege' of working on many different types and sizes of estimates over the years, including some as large as $25M. No matter how big or small the jobs have been, there always seems to be a common thread when it comes time to actually build the project. Something was always missed or overlooked. There are three things that are certain in life for an estimator, taxes, death and missed items in a job estimate. The name guess-timate was developed by my fellow field personel who would receive the budget and often discover those 'hidden jewels' that the estimating department had ignored.


When you sit down to begin your latest project/renovation on your house you NEED to put together an estimate. I always get a good laugh out of shows like Property Ladder when you hear these lavish plans with limited time frames and minuscule budgets. Immediately I know that one of three things is true 
1) They have never thought about actual costs or time frames in an estimate 
2) They are construction virgins 
3) Maybe they're just plain delusional.


I must admit that I was guilty, when we attacked the basement, of just flying by the seat of our pants. Since it was a "spur of the moment" renovation, we neglected to put together an estimate or even a definite plan. Although we were very cost conscious of the things we put into the basement, we were just trying to get it finished quickly in order to qualify for the tax rebate incentives available at the time. Now having put that out in the open, if I had to do it again I most certainly would have writen up an estimate and developed a budget for my plan although it was constantly changing throughout the construction process.


The estimate will give you a quantity of items that you need in order to complete the project, which you can then take with you to the building center to compile your costs. These costs are what will create your budget.


The biggest difference between putting a budget together for a say a new addition vs. a renovation of a bathroom, is the amount of contingency you want to include. Contingency is a line item or percentage used towards the grand total to help cover any screw ups or omissions in your estimate. When doing a renovation your contingency should be higher because your unknowns are increased. Who knows what lurks behind that old drywall or plaster? My basic #1 rule for estimating is if you're unsure, round UP! Its better to have a few extra pieces that can probably be returned, than be short a few screws and scrambling back to the store to finish the job, it will save you a lot of time and frustration.


Construction can seem like a complicated process but if you break it down by its divisions its really basic. It is typically divided into the following 16 divisions: 1 -General Requirements 2 -Sitework 3 -Concrete 4 -Masonry 5 -Metals 6 -Woods and Plastics 7 -Moisture Protection 8 -Doors and Windows 9 -Finishes 10 -Specialties 11 -Equipment 12 -Furnishings 13 -Special Construction 14 -Conveying Systems 15 -Mechanical 16 -Electrical. Categories 10-14 are not used as often in a residential application but its helpful to know these things if say you wanted to put a decorative spire on your new addition, it would fall into the Specialties category.


If you take these categories and start at #1 and ask yourself how is this project going to start? Is there going to be any demolition? How will I dispose of it? How will I deal with the dust? It is helpful to write down any and all questions and run it by a friend or significant other (hopefully someone with some experience in construction) so that they can elaborate on your questions which will lead you to a proper work plan which will help develop your estimate.


I will list our budget below by category and then do a follow up post with the actual costs and you can see where I made my wins and losses.

I didn't add in any contingency as a line item but I did round up on most items and was very conservative in my lump sum items. I was also fortunate to have leftovers from the basement such as drywall and vapor barrier which equated to zero cost for me. Since I will also be doing all the labor work myself and with a few helpers those costs will be limited to cost of beer and meals.


Be sure to check back in a few weeks to see how my guess-timate compares to the actual costs we have incurred so far. I hope this gives you a good starting point of how to get started on a budget. Feel free to ask any questions! Estimating and putting together a budget can be very time consuming and boring but it's essential to a successful project!

Dream Home - "Hungary" for Budapest

Yeas... cheesiest blog title ever, but it had to be done. We're a little early with today's post, but with no other content going on, I thought I'd just get the Dream Home up! There were no reader requests this week, so I decided that it was my chance to search for my own Dream Home! Recently, I've been dreaming of a vacation in Budapest. It all started with an article in Elle Decor a few months ago, and since then I haven't been able to stop dreaming about this beautiful city.

On my search, I found that it wasn't very easy to find big luxury homes in the city, but I did find this really lovely apartment with a perfect price tag attached! While I pack my bags, why don't you all have a look around?

I found this home through a google search of "Homes for Sale in Hungary". This 78 square meter (or 840 square foot) apartment, is completely renovated with four bedrooms, and a modern kitchen. It claims to be on one of the most popular streets in Budapest, surrounded by many bars, restaurants, theatres and shops, as well as excellent access to transit. Think about how much you would pay for said apartment in the city you live in... and then let me tell you this puppy is listed for $181,553 US! So let's take a look inside...

I love the architecture of the entrance to the building! Lots of stairs, but hey - we can all use a little exercise everyday, no? (Just try not to think about the hassle of moving in, okay? I'll hire movers anyway, they can deal with that madness while I visit a nearby bar) The high ceilings, the columns... and check out the railing on the staircase!

LOVE IT! Alright, onto the few photos of the apartment that were available...

This looks like it could be the entry of the apartment... or it could also be a hallway with doors to the bedrooms. Regardless, I'm thinking they did a pretty cool job with the paint. However, I must say that this is the low point of the apartment...

I think this kitchen is absolutely gorgeous! Those windows offer so much natural light, and I'm loving the neutral cupboards and counters! Leaves you with lots of choices for painting those walls. According to the listing, the kitchen is all Corian, with built in appliances and wood floors. Not too shabby, huh? The best spot though....

Check out that modern bath! Lovely! The listing says that those lights in the ceiling are "Swarovski crystal star lights". OK! There's also a light therapy bath and underfloor heating. Seriously? Along with everything else and this place is still under $200K?

I know, there is a serious lack of photos, but this was actually the posting with the most. Clearly they didn't need a lot of photos to sell me on the place anyway. Who's going to be my first guest in Budapest? Any takers?

If you want me to find you a Dream Home, leave me a comment or shoot me an email with some details and a location... I'll share next week!

Let's Start The Week Off Right...

Happy Monday friends! I can't believe that the weekend is over already. It just flew by for me... how about the rest of you? I spent most of the weekend avoiding the computer, as I spent way too much time staring at it for work all last week (with more to come this week). So, little has been put together for this weeks blogging... and all of the projects we worked on are not ready to share... so you'll still have to wait!


So, with Monday here after a speedy Autumn weekend, I thought that I would start it off just right with a great giveaway! Last week when I attended a taping of Steven & Chris with so many other great bloggers, the team was oh so gracious and handed over 4 tickets for one of my readers to check out a taping of Steven & Chris, here in Toronto!

If you would like to go and see the boys live, leave a comment here and let me know who you would bring with you to the taping! This contest will close this coming Sunday (October 31st) at 11:59pm (EST). I will announce the winner on Monday November 1st! 


Good Luck!

Fancy Friday Love

Welcome Friday! You always make me so happy... being the end of the week... pay day every other week, and of course as a day to share all of the lovely things I scouted during the past 7 days! Here we go...

Last Friday the fabulous Will of Bright.Bazaar gave us a peek into the Kate Spade Pop-Up Shop in Covent Garden, London. Of course, you all know I loved every inch of it...

Head on over to check out all of the pretty details that Will captured and shared... and his photo booth pictures. He's SO FUN! Will.. when B and I make the eventual leap across the pond - can we hang out? ;)

Love the combination of this image and this quote from Pink Wallpaper.

Words that ring so true, and a room that just looks lovely. I think sometimes we all need a little reminding that life is bound to throw us curveballs, and test us. In the end, it's all in how we face it, and deal with it that will make it worth it, and make it make sense.

Adore this dining room that Marianne shared...

The colour combo, and those shutters on the wall! Not to mention the fabulous chandy!

I think these pillows from wild roses grow would be a great gift for newlyweds... or just two love birds...

I'd love one for our bedroom. Definitely in the blue!

I fell head over heels when I saw this photo on this is glamourous. The work of stylist lotta agaton is just to die for, no?

This wasn't the only beautiful room in the post... just my favorite. You can check out the others right here!

Did you see these beautiful pieces that Mackenzie shared on her blog from Jess LC?

Loving them! They are pieces I can see myself wearing... especially that coral one.

Thank you for such a beautiful week friends! I especially can't thank you enough for your lovely, honest and positive responses to my "Imperfect" post yesterday. It's inspired me to start something new - so keep your eyes out for it next Thursday! As for this weekend, we have some home projects to tackle and a birthday to celebrate on Saturday night! I'm looking forward to a weekend that is a little less planned than usual, and sharing with you what we accomplish! I'm also hoping to do some house keeping around here on the blog over the weekend - so many new blogs for my blog rolls! See you all on Monday!

Because I'm Not Busy Enough...

Sometimes I stumble across images like the ones below, and I think about how much I would love to take a calligraphy class one day, so that I too could write as beautifully as this...

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Don't worry, I'm well aware that a lot of these are stamps and letterpress... but wouldn't it be nice, regardless? I'm not pushing myself on the perfection thing, I actually just think it would be really fun. You know if I could write like this, you would ALL want a Christmas card from me this year, wouldn't you?

Have you ever thought of taking, or actually taken a Calligraphy class? Anyone in Toronto know of anywhere I could do something like this? I bet a one day workshop would be more up my alley than taking on more classes!

Imperfect

I'm moving away from the whole design / decor thing for a day. Today there's something a little different I want to write about.

Following Brittany's post yesterday, I stumbled across numerous other bloggers who have recently posted on the topic of perfection. The main idea being that all too often, the blogs that we read (and write) tend to create this false idea that we ourselves, and our lives are perfect. I, of course, think that it's important to have a way to escape every once in a while, and for many of us, we find that in blogging, but sometimes wearing this mask can get tiring, and often times stressful.

I posted the other week that I wasn't feeling quite like myself and I do believe that a lot of that had to do with me bottling up feelings and playing a part. It's a hard thing to keep on doing.

In the spirit of what some of the above bloggers have done, I thought I would put on my brave face for once and share some of my own imperfections with my readers. Afterall, sometimes it's nice to know you're not alone in your imperfections and struggles... am I right?

- I am the most indecisive person ever. Not just when it comes to design decisions, but when it comes to ALL decisions. I'm often surprised that B still puts up with me and my ever changing decisions regarding my life, career and yes, place of residence. I think I tell him something new everyday... and he STILL supports me. (I must say, I'm surprised and thrilled that I'm still as passionate about design/decor and blogging as I was over a year ago!) 

- I have a temper that I get from my father's side. I sometimes snap easily, and often get moody with B. Quite often, it's because I've bottled up other feelings, unsure of how to express them, and unfortunately I only feel safe letting them out inside of my own home. Sadly for B, he is the only person there and the worst of it falls on him. I'm always quick to apologize when I recognize I am doing this, and in an attempt to redeem myself, I always do my best to make up for my poor behaviour.

- I'm not a cook at ALL. I usually leave the cooking up to B, and surely don't help out as often as I should when it comes to this household chore. Why? I'm not creative or confident in the kitchen and need all the ingredients and a recipe in front of me to really get going. I'm also not very patient, and if it's a recipe that takes a lot of prep work and cooking time, for some reason I just can't handle it. Yet... baking, I can. Maybe it's because of my next imperfection...

- My horrible sweet tooth. I have very little will power when it comes to chocolate and baked goods. I'm working on it, and I do my best to avoid them... but if they're in front of me, it's next to impossible to say "No".

- Sometimes I worry to much about what people will think of me. This often results in me talking way too much (and I think people will find me annoying) or I just clam up (and then worry that everyone will think I am rude). It's really a big lose, lose situation, and afterwards I end up spending a few days worrying about what people think about me. The funny thing is, I actually worry a lot less than I used to... so that would be proof that I'm working to improve on this!

- I'm lazy. Period! I don't work out as often as I should, I'm sometimes slow on the house work, I procrastinate... and, well, you get the idea. Lazy.

- I often spend too much time worrying about the next step, rather than enjoying the moment. I worry if I'll ever make the long distance, overseas move that I have dreamed about since I was 19, and I worry about where I'm going with my career, and so on and so forth. I need to spend more time enjoying what I have (while still working towards what I want, of course).

To sum it up - my life is far from perfect, and I don't believe I try to pretend that it is when I blog. I'm often stressed out and tired between school, work, blogging and renovations, but I'm trying to follow my heart and doing the best I can day in and day out to make both myself, and B, happy. Of course, the two of us have our ups and downs. We're not a perfect couple by any means, and we work at our relationship... because relationships require work! However, at the end of every day when I can come home and tell him that I love him, and look at the not so perfect life we have created together, I am happy.

Our little family - Christmas 2009

When it comes down to it, I'm not looking for a perfect life. I'm looking for a life with B, filled with the people and things that we love. I know that there will be bumps, and disasters and heart break and all of the rest of the things that make life so imperfect - and I'm okay with that. I really just want to be happy...

Are any of my readers willing to open up and share some of their imperfections? In a comment or a post? If you write your own post, could you be so kind as to share a link? I'd love to get to know you all better... and these imperfections are all a part of what makes us who we are. Thanks for taking the time to get to know me a little better! :)

Garage Sale Chair Revisited

Alright, so how is everyone with keeping up with all of the projects we're tackling over here? Finishing our basement, moving our bedroom, renovating our front entrance and of course always the smaller projects of refinishing something or another. Today I want to talk about my garage sale chair that I found way back in May.

When I last posted about it, I mentioned that I already had the fabric that I wanted to recover it in and that I knew what the finished product would look like in our renovated basement. I also mentioned I had started working away on it. At the time, both statements were true. Now, both statements still are true, just in a completely different way.

Work has started... but it's the same work I had started back in May, and I'm ready to get back to working on this fancy find. I'm almost done sanding, and I bought the wood stain during our weekend shopping trip to Lowes. As the temperature is slowly dropping, I am reminded that I need to finish sanding and staining as soon as possible, as I'd like to have this piece useable by the time the holidays roll around. With B focusing on our front entrance at the moment, I'll have more time to focus my energy on getting this portion of the project done. Easy-peesy.

The next part, not quite as simple. I had originally envisioned my chair done in a pretty neutral fabric, with the wood painted. This vision has very rapidly evolved and then over the weekend I stumbled across this photo...

Funny enough this picture (found on Janell's blog) is actually in her post about Grey and GREEN (not yellow). The thing is, I wasn't looking for the same thing, this photo just inspired me to go with grey and yellow.

Seeing this made me realize how gorgeous a yellow chair would look in our grey living room...

It'll definitely bring some colour into our very neutral space. So, this means I am officially on the hunt for the perfect fabric... and actually have been for a while. Just like with my office chair, I've been really indecisive with the fabric I want to use for this project.

For quite some time now, I thought that this would be the perfect fabric...

Now I'm realizing, that as much as I love it, adding more grey and white to the room will just seem way to boring to me.

For a short period of time, I also considered using this fabric, but as pretty as it is, I think it would be all wrong in our space...

So, with both of these aside... here are the new fabrics I am considering (I'm really focused on buying from Tonic Living, mainly because they are located in Toronto and I could have it shipped here quickly for free!)

I think that this one would really compliment the shape of the chair. I also like the two differing tones of yellow.

This one may also work. I like the combination of the grey and yellow, but not too sure how I feel about the stripes.

And option number three...

Loving the diamonds, and the combination of yellow and grey (again), but not sure if there is enough yellow in it for what I'm going for.

I'm pretty sure I know which one I like best, but I'm interested to hear some reader opinions. So spill - which fabric would you use for my garage sale chair in my living room? Not a fan of yellow? Seen something else over on Tonic Living that you think would work better? Spill!

We'll see where this whole thing actually takes me... I won't be surprised if I don't go with any of the above fabrics and end up with a very different colour when the whole thing is said and done...

The Boys & Bloggers

Yesterday was the day - I spent it hanging out in downtown Toronto with Steven & Chris and a bunch of fantastic Canadian (mostly Toronto / GTA) Bloggers. It was INCREDIBLE! Let's start from the beginning, shall we?


I was up (not so bright) and early to head downtown and meet a few lovely ladies (and my Mom!) for breakfast...

I enjoyed the company of Sharon, Shannon, Brittany and Jen over breakfast! It was a great opportunity for all of us to chat more before heading off to the taping. It was good because it all seemed to go so quickly once we arrived!

From the beginning everything went well. Once we arrived at the CBC studios, we didn't have to wait long in line before they started getting us ready to head into the studio. Once we were upstairs and waiting to walk into the studio (in a beautiful room FULL of the boys own furniture!), there were members of the Steven & Chris team walking around, taking photos of us bloggers & tweeting them! Awesome!

We really didn't have to wait long, but long enough that some of us got to chat and get some more photos. From there, they moved us quickly into the studio where they had great music playing to get us all pumped up. They didn't spend a lot of time reading off rules and make us do silly head nods and the rest, just some clapping and cheering, which really just got us excited!

Cameras and phones were all welcome in between shooting, so we had them all out right away. We were also sitting pretty... surrounded by so many lovely ladies...

Shannon & Jen were in front of us...

MY NYC trip pals Vanessa & Christine (& Sarah... sadly not pictured) were right behind us

...and I had the pleasure of sitting next to the lovely Janice! Was like being at the show with an old friend!

The boys jumped right into the show when they came out, announcing that they had an audience full of lifestyle bloggers. It was apparent that the audience appreciated this announcement. 

Overall, I was really happy with the segments they covered. Starting with some viewer questions (design related), and then onto some of Steven's DIY projects... which was where they announced we were each taking home a gallon of Para Paint (and one lucky audience member would take home TEN gallons... oh yea!... not me though). 

Guest chef was Rodney Bowers (who you'd know from the last season of Marriage Under Construction). He made a fantastic Pulled Pork... which we enjoyed afterwards in the lobby! A seriously INCREDIBLE lunch, you'll want to watch for this recipe! He's so funny, and who doesn't love a local chef doing his thing? 

Celebrity guest was Jenny McCarthy talking about her new book... and some odd personal tidbits. You'll have to watch (this Friday the 22nd) to hear more about those. They rounded out the show nicely with a quick pina colada recipe. I think that they really covered all bases for their audience of lifestyle bloggers & the general consensus was people were really happy!

What I loved most? How personable the boys were with all of us. Talking to us constantly and inviting us to talk out if they asked questions to the audience. In between shooting segments, they had no problem stepping forward for pictures and to thank us all for coming out to the show...

A little blurry, but I think everyone will agree that this perfectly captures the boys and their personalities! They are so charming and warm and friendly - they actually make you feel so welcome and not just like a bunch of people sitting in a TV studio. Plus, they are hilarious. There were numerous times we all busted up during the show with genuine laughter (grey vinyl & dry erase markers anyone?).


They also had no problem mingling and hanging around with all of us after the taping. As we all enjoyed the pulled pork, the boys, along with Rodney (AND George Stroumboulopoulos) all hung around mingling, chatting and taking pictures with us... but that still wasn't the end. Once we all finished up, we headed back into the studio where we had the chance to meet the boys individually and get photos taken...

I also snuck a little hug from Chris - haha - they were SO SWEET!

The Q&A that happened afterwards was great. The boys answered questions about their career, their brand, inspiration, blogs, beauty products, fashion, and even a few question about their personal lives. They really were so open to the questions and answered so truthfully. 

Afterwards we took the time to pick up some great items to giveaway to our wonderful blog readers (to come later this week!), and more chances for photos!

Liz, Shannon, Tara, me, Jennifer

To sum it up... I must say that I really enjoyed it. The boys and their production team did a fantastic job hosting us, and I would gladly go back to their show again. I think it helped that there is a serious sense of friendship amongst the Toronto bloggers, so it was like a reunion (a room full of strangers... that I already know.. right ladies?).

After such a great day, I can say I am even more sad that I won't be able to make the blogger meet-up on November 20th... but I am looking forward to having the chance to meet up with my blog friends again in the future!

*Edit: In my haste I managed to forget to post about how wonderful it was to meet Tania, Staci and Lindsay as well! (You can spy Lindsay and her lovely Mom in the background of my last photo checking out the set... which she posted about here!) I so hope I didn't miss anyone else... but if I did, it's not that I didn't absolutely love meeting you... it's just that I'm so overwhelmed with all of the wonderful people and things we saw yesterday!