Getting Creative

I know that Tuesday afternoons are usually reserved for Dream Home... and I do have one coming next week in California, but some things came up recently the delayed my putting the post together. Instead, I'd liket o share with you the artwork that B and I created this past weekend.

On Saturday B and I had a little date night to go and check out Paintlounge up in Markham. You may remember reading about them when Shannon wrote a post about visiting with her son. After reading it, I knew I had to visit... especially since I was planning on creating some of my own artwork for our living room. Then, when I received an email from Beverly, one of the two owners, inviting me up to check them out, I knew that I needed to make a trip that way and a date night with B was planned.


Saturday after dropping our guestroom mattress off to it's new owner, we headed north to Markham and popped into Paintlounge where we met up with one of the two owners Samantha. Samantha was so sweet and welcoming and took us on a quick tour of the facilities before we got down to business.


Paintlounge is not just an art studio, but also a cafe. They offer a great selection of sandwiches, baked goods, coffees, teas and other hot and cold beverages. (Samantha recommended a delicious fruity decaf tea for me that I really enjoyed while getting my paint on).

The atmosphere is perfect for sitting back and relaxing with some friends and munching on some goodies - either after painting, or if you just wanted to stop in for a place to hang out.

Samantha explained to me that those great green canvas' you see there are communal pieces of artwork. Guests can pay $2 for a square on the canvas and paint what they'd like. It's very cool to see all of the creative ideas that people come up with. My favorite are the panda's in the lower left corner of the canvas on the left! Very cute.

Of course, the most important area is their fantastic studio area, with all of the supplies...

We each picked out our canvas' (B choosing and extra-small and myself a small). I already had an idea of what I wanted to do, but B needed a little bit if inspiration. Samantha showed us a great book that she loves for inspiration and it really got the wheels turning for B.

Then we both got to work painting up a storm...

The music was great to paint away to, and as we worked away a family of four came in. They bought a couple of large sized canvas' and Mom and one son worked on one, and Dad and the other son worked on the other. They planned on putting them in the kitchen and they seemed to have a great time working away. It really is the type of place for everyone!

As we painted, I did a bit of chatting with Samantha to find out more about how Paintlounge came to be. She let me know that both her an Beverly are artistically inclined, Samantha more interested in painting and Beverly in graphic design. They started talking and brainstorming and with Samantha aspiring to open an art studio and Beverly dreaming of opening a cafe - Paintlounge was born... and am I ever glad that it was! Even B who tagged along to please me, said that he had a really great time getting artistic.

So what kind of artwork did we each create? Well, I worked away on a piece to hang in our living room...

While my wonderful B got busy painting a little some for our little peanut's nursery...

Cute right? My favourite is his blue and orange giraffe... and that little lamb in the right corner. 

We haven't yet hung either of our paintings in their proper homes yet, but of course I will share as soon as we do.

I'd completely recommend hitting up Paintlounge... whether it's for a date night, a girls night or a family outting, you're guaranteed to have a great time. I'm already thinking of the night time I'll go. Are you ready to get your paint on?

You Love Me!

So, I'm a little slow on this one, but I was given the Stylish Blogger Award by the stunning Michaela (um... a month ago), laxsupermom over at Sugar & Spice in the land of Balls & Sticks (last week) and Hilary from My So-Called Home (yesterday). Thank you so much ladies - so very sweet of you!

Let's see if I can come up with 7 things that you may not know about me yet (without overlapping on a similar post I did previously for a different award)...

1. My first pet was a three legged siamese cat. He was like my baby, and sometimes I still get teary-eyed when I think about the day we had to put him down. I actually rushed home from Ottawa to be at home with my family and say good-bye to him. I still miss him to this very day.

2. I swore I would hold off on buying maternity clothes as long as possible... then the other weekend my friend who works at a mat store took me shopping. Ever since buying my black dress pants for work with the belly panel... I'm in love... and I find it so strange.

3. I was not a football fan at all until I started dating B. He was the only person patient enough who took the time to explain the game to me. It eventually made sense, and though I don't watch every single week, I do enjoy watching games with him now. I'm thankful that we can enjoy one of his passions together. 

{via}

4. I'm not a huge girly girl who watches award shows, fashion, etc. I'm never really on top of the latest trends, I really just like to buy things that look nice, that are comfortable and that suit my personality and my body type. 

5. I'm constantly dreaming of a new place to jet set off to... even if we don't have the money... or the time in the near future. The next big destination on my list has to be Scotland to visit my girlfriend Sharon... I've been promising her I'd go for years, so I need to make this happen!

6. When I was younger I always wished I had a bigger family... more brothers and sisters. Now that I'm older I realize that all of my friends are just as great as having siblings... and I got to CHOOSE them! My friends are just as much a part of my family as B, my parents and my brother. I love them!

7. Stepping out of what this award calls for, I'm reserving #7 to ask all of you what you want to know about me! Ask any questions in the comments below, and I'll answer them all the best that I can in a future post.

Now who am I passing this on to? I think most people have already got this award... haven't they? So without trying to sound like I'm taking the easy way out, I want to pass this on to ALL of my blogger friends / readers! If you read this blog and haven't received the Stylish Blogger award... this one is for you! If you do your own post, please leave me a comment and let me know... I always love learning morning about fellow bloggers! 

Things That Have Happened Recently

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend... I know we enjoyed ours. Here's what's been going on recently for us...


On Friday I won a great giveaway from Staci! I cannot wait to get my book... thanks so much Staci!

When I arrived home from work on Thursday evening I had these little lovelies waiting for me care of Home Depot. 

Who doesn't love a little energy saving lighting for the home. Attached are a few little tips on how to get a little more romantic with lighting for Valentine's day... I like!

We managed to sell our guest bedroom mattress this past weekend! Hooray! Now we just need to get rid of the old bed frame... and work can finally begin on our new bedroom! JOY!

Now, I'm well aware that my B is a man of many talents. From renovations to the magic he works in the kitchen, I'd say I'm pretty lucky. Well... this past weekend B revealed yet another of his many talents to me. Yup... and I'll reveal that to all of you a little later this week.

Yesterday I was cleaning up for the little Superbowl party that we had, and unfortunately, it resulted in this....

Well, I guess it's unfortunate and not all at the same time. Unfortuante because it happened right before we were having a get together and required a coffee table (thankfully we just used our old IKEA one from the basement). Not so unfortuante because I've never been a huge fan of this table. It's too large for the space and not in great shape. It was a hand-me-down that served as well since we moved in... I just would've preferred to part with it, without having glass smashed all over our floor.

C'est la vie! The rest of the weekend was fantastic, and we have so many great things to share with you as the week progresses... including a reveal of the finished front enterance interior!

What did you all get up to this lovely February weekend?

Fancy Friday Love

Happy first Friday of February everyone! It's been a long cold snowy week (for a lot of us I think), so let's all warm up with a decaf tea (my current drink of choice, but you can have whatever you want) and some fanciness from the past week...

If this gorgeous home in Croatia won't warm you up... I don't know what will! It was featured on desire to inspire on Tuesday and it was absolutely love at first site for me. I'm ready to go...
 

I may not have started with something from her blog this week, but I'm not surprised to be sharing another gorgeous space that Erin featured on her blog this past week. This 430 square foot home is beautiful and the space is utilized so well. One picture won't be enough, so make sure to visit Erin and see more!

These pictures (and this post in general) so have me inspired... and itching to go shopping for fabric! I'll need to soon, but trying as hard as I can to pinch some pennies at the moment. Aren't these snaps from Carlee's blog fantastic?

Sorry to disappoint you all... but I believe this is actually very true (most of the time anyway haha)...

{via Lotta Agaton}

I may be starting my own little baby registry here on my blog (haha), but I officially want this adorable little bunny hat for our peanut.

I just saw this hat and thought "Great baby photos!". Available through Adrienne Kinsella on Etsy. So adorable!

Short list this week! I was just so caught up in everything going on at home, and fell a little behind in my blog reading. This weekend I'm just hoping to enjoy myself. I'm meeting a friend at a restaurant here in the city tonight for dinner - Winterlicious is going on right now in Toronto so it's a good chance to hit up some restaurants we may not otherwise visit. For example, tonight we're hitting up Oliver & Bonacini's Canoe - not always an easy place to get a reservation at. YUM! The rest of the weekend we'll do some cleaning, relaxing and cooking for the little Superbowl "party" we're throwing on Sunday. Nothing too exciting for us since the Patriots are out, but it's the Superbowl - we have to watch. Hope the rest of you enjoy your weekend... and we'll catch up on Monday!

Perfectly Imperfect - Shannon's Laundry Room

I know you haven't heard much from me over the past two days. We've been busy on the homefront. I'm working on a couple of school projects, and doing the best I can to help B finish up the front entrance... in other words, working on content that's to come next week! Can't wait to share... especially our front entry reveal!

Today Shannon from 8 foot 6 is here to share a Perfectly Imperfect space with us. If you've been reading Shannon's blog, than you will know that sadly last Friday she said good-bye to blogging. On a brighter note, I feel honoured that this final look into her home is being shared on my blog. Thanks Shannon.... and we'll miss you! Check out Shannon's Laundry Room...

I have been following Kerry's Perfectly Imperfect series since the beginning! I love it! Thanks for including our home in your imperfect tour!

 We have one room in the house that is functional, but not pretty...its the storage room/laundry room...I think whenever you have a room with a "slash" in the title, its a challenge making it look great!

On top of the dryer sits a printer, and two irons that are on their way out the door...once we locate some new owners! It would be nice to have a countertop installed, with some shelves/cupboards on the wall behind the machines...or maybe even a bar to hang the clothes from the ceiling...

Next to the laundry we have our old pottery barn kids desk that we used in the condo...we aren't ready to sell this baby yet...it could come in handy some day in a kids room...for now its our only flat surface that we can dump stuff on...We also have two old parsons chairs and an old sewing machine table in the corner, piled with tennis rackets and the extra car seat (for the airplane)...boxes of cables are pretty much standard issue around here...

 The shelves are a life saver...the room is not very big, so going vertical with storage was key! Do you recognize any of my thrifty finds? I am not sure why the ladder is in the basement and not in the garage...but hey, go with it!

The bins along the back wall are wonderful for storing things that might not fit on the shelves...like the dragon, of course!

Without this room I couldn't keep the rest of my house clutter free and comfortable...I guess you could say we sacrificed one room...we had big dreams of ikea cupboards, laundry sinks, counters, matchy matchy storage boxes and more...but for now, we are perfectly happy with our imperfection!

Thanks again for having me for a visit on your blog Kerry!

Thanks again Shannon for taking part in this little series of mine! It was so great having you visit here and I wish you all the best in what you have planned with your extra time now. I hope you'll stay in touch... and that we get to do some thrifting together while on I'm my mat leave! :)

I'm always looking for new perfectly imperfect spaces to share, so if you're interested in sharing your space shoot me an email! I'll be back next week with another great space!

Dream Home - Canary Island Cabana

Today's Dream Home was scouted out for my friend B over at The Cape on the Corner. With a vacation in the Canary Islands on her mind, I switched things up a little this week, and instead of finding a massive impressive home, I found a quaint little vacation rental that works great for 2. My search was done at Spain Holiday, and if you're not feeling this little gem... maybe one of the many other rentals will strike your interest.

Located in Las Aguas, a small village on the north coast of Tenerife this vacation rental is a 200-year old Canarian-style home, and my god is it cute! The best part is that, according to the website, this is a small town that isn't full of tourists... so talk about a great place to get away and totally just relax and soak up some culture!

The home is located 50 metres from a small beach and a public seawater pool, great to go and relax every single day!

How gorgeous and ideal is that location... and check out the little cottage from the street...

The pink walls enclose the adorable little patio area. Loving the wood detail, AND the view...

Taking a look inside, it's nothing breath taking but when it comes to a vacation in the Canary Islands - how much time do you plan to spend in your little vacation rental? I think it's just right and rather cute for two to get away to...

A simple bedroom and an open living area that extends out onto your own private patio! I could always use a simplistic getaway to a beautiful island for some sun and relaxation.

Now, I'm off to search Laguna Beach and the Hollywood Hills for the perfect home for my friend Crystal! Make sure you come back next week to see what I dig up! Where do you dream of living or escaping to?

Design Fights Back

Last night I got an email from Krista over at Hopeless Chest... and I must say I am so glad that she sent it! Right now, Krista's Mom is working hard on an event called "Design Fights Back".

They are still looking for designers to participate, to create one of the 33 dynamic dining tables at the Sheraton Centre Toronto on April 2, 2010. To find out more information click on the link above or the Design Fights Back logo.

Not only am I a huge fan of design, but I have so many family and friends whose lives have been affected by Cancer. In the past I both volunteered and participated annually in the Oshawa Relay for Life - as a team captain, and also as an event photographer. A seriously worthy cause, and event that I hope has all of the success in the world.

Please, even if you aren't able to participate as a designer at the event, let's spread the word and help this first time event truly shine!