Wishing You Joy

Things have truly been silent over here! Between Christmas prep, a 2 year old who enjoys constantly testing our limits and a number of home projects, my blog has just fallen to the wayside. Though I had planned on sharing more than just Halle's room with you this week, it will have to wait a little longer. We have a kitchen reveal to share with you soon, but with everyone being so busy with the impending holiday's, I plan to leave it a little longer until I share our incredible transformation!

In the meantime, I wanted to pop in and wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and all of the best for 2014! 

2013 was such a spectacular year for us! Purchasing a new home, getting married, the perfect honeymoon in Scotland and just creating so many wonderful memories with family and friends! We are so excited over here to see what the coming year has in store for us!

I will try to drop by before we ring in the New Year, but I will make no promises! If not, enjoy your holidays, stay safe and spend the time with the one's you love the most!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Halloween 2013

Well, another Halloween has come and gone and this year was even better than last. Our new neighbourhood is a lot more child friendly than our previous one! We had tons of kids come by, and Halle enjoyed trick or treating with a couple of her little friends. B said by the time they were visiting the last few houses she was running up to the door, knowing she was going to get more treats. At each house she would say "Teet peeze!"... we'll work more on "Trick or Treat" for next year. She came home with a loaded bucket and a big smile on her face, and she scarfed down a bag of chips before bed (her favourite treat). 

As for her costume, this year she had asked to be a bee, so I decided to make her a little costume. I used this tutorial to make her a little dress, and it worked out perfectly. Underneath it she wore a pair of black stretchy pants and long sleeved yellow t-shirt. I ended up putting a black jacket over her for trick or treating and her wings over the jacket. The wings we bought at Jo-Ann and the antenna are from a dress up costume that B's Mom brought for her. It came together great and we all loved it...

{B was still feeling pretty excited after the Sox big win on Wednesday night!}

We both love how she wraps her little arm around our necks for photos. It's totally unprovoked!

It's also hard to believe that this is her THIRD Halloween!

I hope you all had a safe and memorable Halloween this year! We sure did! I know this week was quiet, but I've been working away on some changes in Halle's room and B was away for a week (he got back on Tuesday), so I was solo parenting which kept me busy. Hoping to share Halle's bedroom updates early next week, and possibly even a look at our new dining room table! So excited!

Happy November & Happy Weekend! What do you have planned for this weekend to ring in the new month?

My Top 10 Holiday Cards

If you're anything like me, you are already thinking about Christmas, especially Christmas cards. Ever since Halle joined us, we love sending out photos cards every year to document our family, especially with us being so far away from so many family members and friends. (You can see our 2011 cards here, and 2012 card here) This year, to help others with their selection, I've rounded up my top 10 favourite cards from Minted! No matter what your family situation this holiday season, I've got a card for everyone that you will just love...

1. silent-less nights holiday postcard: did you welcome a new addition in 2013? This postcard is just too sweet to share a photo of your precious bundle, and I'm sure just about every new parent can relate to the wording! You can completely personalize it from colours, to holiday wishes! This sweet card also comes in the new foil pressed holiday cards as well, which I absolutely adore! 

2. family year in review holiday photo card: have a big year like we did? I love the idea of a year in review card to share all of the exciting news you have with those that you may not have seen very much! Of course not every person may need a play by play update of what you got up to in 2013, but maybe order 10 or 15 to send to some of your closest family and friends? Also a great keepsake for you to hold onto (I our leftover photo cards every year)

3. holly jolly wishes foil-pressed holiday card: I am IN LOVE with the new foil-pressed cards  that Minted has introduced for this holiday season! There are so many to choose from but I must say, this beautiful gold card was just too much to resist (you can also choose it in silver if you prefer it)! Not into the foil-pressed cards? You can also choose it as a regular photo card!

4. frosted pinecone holiday postcard: the postcards are so great to save on paper (no envelopes needed!) and your recipients will open their mailbox to some serious pretty right away! I loved this one for the larger subtle photo, and the way the family name is displayed! If we were to go with this card, I would put a family photo as the large photo, and highlight some pretty photos of Halle along the bottom. Let's be honest, most people just care about the kids anyway, right?

5. holiday squares christmas photo card: one of the best parts about Minted is the unique shapes you can apply to your cards! This wavy edged border looks so great on this multi-photo card. A great way to share more than one of your beautiful family photos (or maybe vacation photos?) from this past year. The muted colour options are beautiful as well - dark blue or two different shades of grey! Which would you choose?

6. first holiday as mr and mrs holiday postcard: Just married (like us)? Looking for a way to share a great wedding photo and share your excitement!? This sweet postcard is absolutely perfect - and I'm just really loving the whole postcard idea this year! Don't you agree? 

7. all ye faithful holiday postcard: While I'm gushing over the postcards, I just had to share this one! I'm always a big fan with anything containing lyrics to traditional carols - they always remind me of Christmas with my parents, listening to Bing and Frank sing those songs. The fonts and set up of this postcard is perfect - especially set next to your perfect personal photo!

8. multi-peace christmas photo card: have too many family photos to choose just one for your card? No problem - this sweet card is perfect the perfect way to share them all! Plus the range of colours it comes in, means it will work for any personal preference! 

9. snowflake holiday ornament card: there are so many creative ways to display all of the Christmas cards you receive, that sometimes it can be hard to choose! Make it easy for the people on your list this year by sending an ornament card! They are brand new to Minted this year and I had such a hard time picking a favourite... so I picked two!

10. merry holly holiday ornament card: another fun shape, but more space to share a great photo! Leave a sweet message on the back and send off for your family and friends to hang on their tree!

So - are you inspired to start planning your holiday cards for this year? If my round up wasn't enough, what if I told you that if you ordered by the end of today you will save $10 off on all of your holiday cards!? What are you waiting for!? I already know what cards we're ordering - I'll be sure to share in December!

** this post does contain affiliate links and I was compensated with a credit towards my purchase of our holiday cards from Minted. However, I only choose to share this round up as I do love Minted and their work and would only share something I really and truly love with all of my readers!

Cobwebs, Witches & Ghosts

We are now 9 days away from Halloween. Though it has never been one of my favourite days of the year, having B and Halle around has really changed how I prepare and celebrate.   For one, B and I started collecting Halloween decorations together after our first October 31st in Toronto. Our collection is growing slowly but we do have fun putting things together for the big day. If you want to take a peek at how we decorated the rental last Halloween, you can read about it here. Today, I want to share how we decorated our house for Halloween this year... 

This little sign (and the orange Halloween lights that border our front door) all came from Home Depot last year, but they are still selling them.

I made these bats in different sizes using this template that I found on Pinterest, and some heavy duty black construction paper that we bought at Jo-Ann. We'd seen some Martha Stewart Craft bats that were $12 - our $1.99 construction paper bats are far more economical! 

The bats are taped inside of the window, and we plan to use our strobe light from Home Depot in this window - I think it will be a fun effect to have with the bats. 

Cotton spiderwebs are kind of our go-to thing around here. B loves them, and they are so inexpensive and easy to put up. We usually reuse ours for more than one year as well.

I adore these ghost lights that we bought at Target last year! So cute, and I hope to buy more this year when Halloween stuff goes on sale, so they can border our entire garden out front!

I can't remember for certain where we got this creepy witch from, but I want to say HomeSense. I'd never really looked really closely at it until I was taking these pictures (B bought it last year after Halloween), and this thing REALLY creeps me out. I mean seriously. It's one of those things that when I was a kid I would have been very wary of when I was walking up to a house.

We picked up three pumpkins this past weekend at the way-to-busy pumpkin patch. None of us enjoyed it as much as we did last year, but I am looking forward to coming up with a design and carving them! The two smaller pumpkins in our lanterns we bought for Halle at Granville Island the other week. She was so excited when she saw them and I couldn't pass them by - I just knew they would be perfect in those lanterns by the door! 

Our skull candle holder - our very first Halloween decoration that we purchased together at HomeSense. We've had the same red candle in it since then and we may just keep it that way! It's really quite fun, and the sidelight is the perfect spot to place it. A black sparkly ghost hangs overhead, but it won't be visible until Halloween night. We plan to hang a white sheet behind behind them in the window so they stand out a little better.

So there you have it - a look at our 2013 Halloween decorations. Do you decorate for Halloween? Have you started? What are some of your favourite ideas for Halloween decorating?

Feeling Thankful

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today I'm feeling so thankful!! Even though we are far from all of our family and friends, we got to spend Thanksgiving weekend with some pretty great family. B's parents are in town, along with his Godmother and her husband. It's been a lovely visit, and we still get B's parents for another week! 

That means, things will be busy around here as we visit and explore and do all kinds of fun stuff. So it means we may not be accomplishing much around the house, but in the great news department, I do have some great posts coming this week... including a look at some of our wedding photos!

So, to all of my Canadian readers - Happy Thanksgiving once again! I hope you have had a wonderful weekend!

What's New At West Elm

I love any chance I can get to head out and browse stores to see what's new - especially at this time of year when all of the holiday items are hitting the shelves. So, when West Elm in Vancouver invited me in for a store tour, I just couldn't resist. On Tuesday evening, I dropped into the store on Granville Street and was so excited by everything that I saw.

West Elm has just released three new lines at their store; the Heritage Collection (my favourite), the Snow Drift Collection, and the Enchanted Forest Collection. Each of them offered something that I really loved, and some really great options for Holiday decorating, entertaining and gift giving.

The Heritage Collection

Since returning from Scotland B and I have been craving richer, deeper colours, and more textures and natural elements in our home. The Heritage Collection is delivering all of that right now. More than anything, I really wanted to snap up some of these gorgeous plates and the serving platter that came about from a collaboration with New York based Shanna Murray - aren't they lovely? I want all of them on my Thanksgiving table this weekend!

The Heritage collection is just bringing a whole lot to love - like the gorgeous throws that are made in Michigan, and the fun plates with the dapper little animals on them! Great for entertaining or to pack up as a gift for your holiday hosts! 

I also fell in love with the Dekalb Premium Leather Sofa (pictured in the front of the photo above). It's so squishy and buttery soft, and really wants to come and live at our house! Perfect for a family with a little one and two dogs - easy to clean and still family friendly! 

The Snow Drift Collection

Looking for a bit more giltz and shimmer this holiday season!? Then you will love to shop the Snow Drift collection. With some beautiful shimmery knitted throws and pillows (in both silver and gold), and lots and lots of mercury glass this line is so much fun! 

It's all warmed up with some natural textures and some cozy soft faux fur throws - similar to that gorgeous white pillow on the sofa above.

I'd love to add some of that mercury glass to my own collection! They would look fantastic grouped on our mantel, or even in the centre of the dining table. Always great for Christmas, but perfect for Thanksgiving too! Something like this pretty collection of mercury glass and pumpkins, over on Villa Vanilla, would be lovely as a centrepiece for this weekend!

The Enchanted Forest Collection

The bright punchy colours of the Enchanted Forest Collection are so much fun. They are fresh and vibrant, but those greens and golds could really work for all seasons!  

Those velvety pillows are gorgeous, and I think they would really warm up that pretty leather couch - don't you agree?

I didn't get a chance to grab any photos, but the dinnerware from the Enchanted Forest collection was just too lovely. My favourite were these lovely glass butterfly plates. Not only pretty for dining on, but would be perfect to add to a plate wall! 

There were a few other lovely pieces I am ready to add to our own home. 

The Parker Mid-Century Bar Cart would be great in our dining room (which we are getting ready to start piecing together), and the price point is fantastic! (It's on sale for $321.82 right now on West Elm's Canadian website!)

I'd also love to add the Emerson Six Drawer Dresser to our bedroom. The texture it would add would be excellent, and it would do a great job of filling the wall at the foot of our bed.

Not pictured, but incredible and the perfect gift for a friend or family member who is big into crafting and DIY is the awesome three tiered Crafting Box that West Elm now has out. We all ooh'd over it for a little while. It was a really versatile piece, but I would be thrilled to add it to my own office / craft room to keep some of my things a little better organized.

There is plenty more to see and love at West Elm right now! I wish that I could share more, but this post would get completely out of hand. So, why not pop into your local store and check out all of the great ideas to spruce up your home, decorate for the holidays and of course to find the perfect gift for all of the people on your list! (No, West Elm did not ask me to write that... it's just how I felt when I left the store).

What's on your "Want" or "Need" list these days? Are you already getting into the "holiday spirit"? Thinking of all of the time to come spent with family and friends celebrating! I for one cannot wait, and I'm so glad it all kicks off this weekend with Thanksgiving!

A "One of a Kind" Experience

As much as we love our new life on the west coast, there is still a lot that I miss from our life in Toronto. Friends and family aside, one of the things I really truly miss is visiting the One of a Kind Show twice a year. Even the trips where I left empty handed were well worth the visit, since there are always so many neat things to see and interesting people to meet.

This year, I was so excited when the One of a Kind Show got in touch with me and asked me to be a part of their Blogger + Rising Star Feature that they are running during the lead up to this years Christmas Show (which takes place November 28 - December 8th at the Direct Energy Centre). Even with all of the wedding and honeymoon craziness, I just had to take part and help them highlight some serious awesome talent from out West! 

I had the chance to meet up with Olivia from Anonum design to find out a little more about her ideas, inspiration, work and some of her favourite local digs. Olivia repurposes old print blankets, giving them new life as belts, tech cases, wallets... and well, she has some new fun designs she is working on as well.

I had such a great time visiting her in her workshop, and felt really excited and energized when I left. I just know that Olivia and her work are going to be a big hit at this years show - I just wish I could be there in person to see it all happen! Make sure you pay her a visit since photos absolutely can not do her work justice, and the feel and look of these blankets in person is INCREDIBLE! I even came home from her visit with a wallet that I absolutely fell in love with.

To find out more about my conversation with Olivia and see some shots of her at work, head on over to the One of A Kind Show Blog! I know you'll all be just as smitten with her work as I was. Oh, and just as a head's up, be sure to come back next month for your chance to win tickets to the show! 

Starting Fresh

I can't believe September is here already. With all of the craziness last month with wedding planning, prep and of course the big day it all seemed to fly by in a blur. I, of course, want to thank the ladies that took time out of their busy schedules to help with some great posts last month. You made the whole month a lot easier on me, so thank you, thank you, THANK YOU again!

I've mentioned before that September has always sort of marked a fresh start for me, like I know it does for many others. It's not only a month that marks the start of a new school season and the start of autumn, but also my birthday. This year it also marks another new start with B and I beginning our lives together as husband and wife. I can't wait to share some more wedding details with you this month, along with honeymoon photos and hopefully a sneak peek of wedding photos. 

This month also means a chance to once again turn my focus towards our home and my little Etsy shop (which will remain on vacation until later this month! I'll be sure to post once it's back up and running with lots of new products!). I also have a new side project that I'm so excited to be a part of, but "mum" is the word until early next month. I promise to share more as soon as I can.

September is just shaping up to be a really awesome month and I'm looking forward to getting a little more settled, and spending more time focusing on Halle with all of the wedding craziness behind us.

What are you looking forward to this month, and the upcoming fall season? 

BC DAY!

WELL, it's a long weekend here (BC Day) and with so much going on this month with the wedding I'm taking today off to soak up some family time with my two favourite people before things get really insane.

{Kim James Photography}

I'll be back tomorrow to really start Wedding Month on the blog. I'll be giving you a look at our Save the Dates that my Mom and I designed together. I can't wait to share them! Until then, enjoy your Monday!

Our Long Weekend

Well, back to the grind today after a glorious long weekend. Everything about it was just right, and it's been a while since I have shared what we've been up to - so I figured it was a good time to pop back in with a weekend recap (get ready for a picture dump post!).

After a lot of overcast and rainy days last week, we woke up on Saturday to beautiful blue skies. We ate breakfast and decided to head out to hit some garage sales. We stopped at one, grabbed some art work and that was it. From there we dropped our area rug off to be cut (more on that tomorrow) and then spent the rest of the day visiting our friends at their campsite at Golden Ears Provincial Park. We're feeling pretty lucky to have an escape like this so close to home!

Our proud Canadian

This was just off of their campsite

Sharing corn on the cob

Gorgeous views while the boys went fishing after dinner

She loved seeing the fish up close before the guys tossed them back

Sunday was just as gorgeous as Saturday. After breakfast on the back deck, we spent the morning and early afternoon working around the house. B did some gardening in the back (with Halle helping) and I spent quite a few hours in the garage painting. We ate a late lunch, showered and headed back to the campsite. The visit started with a little ice cream and then we were off to the beach to cool off.

Of course, yesterday was Canada Day. We were feeling pretty exhausted in the morning after our busy days before, so we started off slow. Another breakfast on the back deck and more puttering around the house, getting a few things done and quite a bit of relaxing (and pool time for Halle), before we headed off to the local festivities...

Visiting the animals at the Petting Zoo - here she was watching the bunnies. She told us she wanted to squeeze them

Watching the Lumber Jack demonstration with Daddy

She loved running around and playing ball with Daddy at the park while we waited for the fireworks

Hot & sweaty (wearing jackets to keep mosquitos off), but enjoying the fireworks. Her face doesn't look like it... but I think she was just surprised by the flash on the camera.

I so love these weekends, just the three of us getting to spend a lot of time together and enjoying the beautiful weather. These types of nearby outdoor activities are part of what kept us on the West Coast. Lots more fun outdoor stuff planned for this summer - including a real camping trip. What did you get up to this weekend?