Here's a Head's Up...

There is no way that I am the only one who has started to think about holiday shopping... am I right? I mean, I know it's only October, but don't you find that once November rolls around you are just so busy with events and other holiday prep, that it's hard to spend quality time with friends, or even get that important shopping done? Well, I'm going to make it easy for you and help you cross some of those gifts off early this year!

I don't post about my fabulous gig as a Stella & Dot stylist very often... okay, rarely ever, but I'm doing it right now because you NEED to see the brand new holiday line, which you can shop at my online store. Between the beautiful new pieces from the Breast Cancer Boutique, to the lovelies from the holiday line, I am sure you will find something beautiful for a special someone in your life.

Even if you just spy something for yourself - why not share it with a loved one and guarantee you'll get what you want this holiday season? I'm happy to answer any and all questions you have, just shoot me an email. I'd be happy to discuss hosting a trunk show (to earn you credits to shop for WHATEVER YOU LIKE!) or even the opportunity to become a stylist yourself! 

An Autumn Mantle that Needs a Little More

I'm more than a few days late, but as I mentioned the other day I have been a busy lady. Last week was full of running around showing my parents all of the beauty out here and spending lots of time together, as well as celebrating my birthday and thinking about/working on my new little venture. Alas Autumn has well and truly arrived, and that is something I am really quite excited about!

{via 79 ideas}

Though I was busy last week, as my post yesterday would indicate, I had a little time to pull out our fall decor and start decorating. We have a pretty nice fireplace (even though I wish it were wood burning like at our Toronto home), and I couldn't wait to probably decorate it for the season. I'm still looking for one final piece to finish it off - but here is what I have for now...

Everything on here we owned, with the exception of the one small pumpkin that my parents bought for Halle last week, and was only $0.50. I'll start low. The bunting I made way back when in our old home, with some fabric I had used for one of my very first school projects. At the time I just made it to give me something to do (oh, the days when I needed to SEARCH for stuff to do), and it ended up getting packed away and forgotten about. Turns out, it's the perfect little fall decoration - don't you think?

On the far left side of the mantle I have my red lantern that I picked up for a few bucks two years ago, while thrifting (You may recognize it from yesterday's post on our Thanksgiving Table). I clustered two ceramic gourds and our $0.50 together and beside all of these I have my Pumpkin Spice Yankee Candle. I can't handle holiday's without a yummy smelling candle and this one sure does the trick!

Since the middle of the fireplace is empty (and we'll get to that in the moment), let's move over to the far right side. Over here I tried to play with scale. I stacked a few orange and yellow books together, and on top I placed a vase filled with my faux acorn vase filler, and my brass apple paper weight. Beside it, I placed my orange votive holders on top of my cupcake holders and placed them in a row. Lastly, behind them is a small print, waiting to find it's forever home in our house. We picked this up when we were back in Toronto in August, and visited the CNE. It's a print of the streetcar that ran right by our home in Toronto. Such a nice reminder of our old house and neighbourhood. It means so much to me!

As for the giant empty spot in the middle...

Yeah, it leaves you wanting more, doesn't it? Me too! BUT, like any good project, I didn't want to rush and purchase or make something that I didn't absolutely love. Plus, since it's the space over the fireplace, I wanted to do something that wasn't seasonal, and that we could leave there all year round and just decorate around it. Well, the other day I saw a post that inspired me and I have decided to blow up a large black and white photo and put it here. I've decided on the photo, and even though a canvas isn't exactly in our budget at the moment, I'm waiting for a good "deal of the day" (they always have photo canvas deals - don't they?) so I can get one made for this spot.

I'm hoping I'll be able to have it soon and share it with you, the photo is too good not to blow up and put here! Have you ever had a photo blown up into a canvas? Where did you have it done? Any good recommendations for a company to work with? I'd love to hear what you have to say?

Our Thanksgiving Table

So, this coming weekend is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. I don't know about the rest of you, but I seriously feel like the whole holiday just sort of snuck up on me. I mean, here we were FINALLY enjoying some summer weather on the West Coast and them BAM - Thanksgiving. Well, I figured, we finally have a pretty nice space to work with, so why not really get into decorating this year? 

Last Friday, while the rain fell, my Mom and I got busy with working on a Thanksgiving table setting, using only items I already had in the house. Here's what we came up with...

The best part about this time of the year it's that it's so easy to step right outside of your front door and find items to bring inside and help you decorate. We did quite a bit of that with this setting - or at least were inspired by the outdoors. 

All of the dishes, glasses and cutlery are items that we have owned for quite a while. I figured since the dinner plates were black and white, that mixing up the glasses would make the dinner table look a little more fun. I love it.

For place markers, we used pinecones that we had stored in the garage for crafts and leaves I actually made last fall, using watercolour paper and paints. I just wrote on the painted leaves and then stuck them inside of the pinecones - easy, and free!

The centre of the table was really easy and quick to put together. I pulled the red lantern from our mantel (coming soon!), and the plate on the bottom B had got when he won a cake at a raffle during the summer. I put some extra painted leaves on the plate and then we scattered some acorn vase fillers around the base of the lantern. I also added some orange tea light holders on top of my cupcake stands, and the pumpkin salt and pepper shakers that my parents gifted us a few years ago.

I left is pretty simple, and it cost me absolutely nothing to put it together - something we really appreciate these days! I like leaving space for food and drink on the table, hence not too much cluttering up the centre of the table. Now, if only we were going to be hosting our own big Thanksgiving dinner this weekend! 

Have you started decorating for autumn? Have you been thinking about your Thanksgiving table, or are you heading away for the long weekend? I'd love to hear what everyone else is doing to prepare for the holiday!

A Weekend at IDSWest & Blend

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope that October has started off wonderfully for you. I meant to share this post yesterday, but things have just been nuts around here. 

I had a great weekend attending IDSWest and meeting a ton of fabulous, talented bloggers at Blend2012. It started on Saturday morning. After dropping my parents off at the airport, B dropped me off at St. Regis Hotel downtown, and I met up with Christine, Amy and Sara. I clicked with these three lovely ladies immediately and loved spending the afternoon with them. 

We strolled down to the Convention Centre, had something to eat and then headed in to catch Tommy's talk at 1pm. 

He gave a great talk on making the most of small spaces, and even though our new home is much larger than our Toronto home, it still gave me a lot to think about when it comes to decorating. Afterwards, we strolled the floor checking out all of the beautiful booths. So much gorgeousness to admire - especially the Aya Kitchens booth (I'm sure you've all seen this kitchen around the blog world over  the last few days).

Trust me, I left that home wishing I could renovate... not just decorate. Especially after seeing some of those kitchens! Gorgeous! 

After our strolling, we made our way back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for our nights. For me, that meant popping into Starbucks before hanging out with Rosa and Michelle in their room for a chat, before finally getting prettied up. I had so much fun meeting so many new friends and bloggers at Blend, that I took no photos... except for one of Christine after she won her lovely Delta faucet - lucky girl!

She wasn't the only lucky lady though! I was pretty excited to take home this fabulous wall decal from Danielle's business Urban Walls. Since I don't know how long we'll be staying, I plan to find something a little more permanent that I can put it on and then take it with us when we move. 

I must say, Barbara, Victoria, Nancy and Karla did such an incredible job planning the evening for us. The venue was beautiful and the food was delicious! A huge thanks to IKEA for sponsoring our evening - it was so appreciated by all of us! I can't wait for a chance to hang out with all of these talented ladies again! 

What did you get up to this weekend?

Celebrating 3 Years!

September 20th was our 5 year anniversary (of being together - we're not married for those who don't know). September 25th I turned 27. Today, September 30th, this blog turns 3! Already! Wow!

When I started this blog, I really had no clue where it would take me. I surely never imagined, that three years after my very first post, I would be spending this morning enjoying a breakfast in Vancouver after a great night with some fabulous bloggers.

I know I haven't been much of a blogger recently. I've seen it in my interactions with my readers, and even in what I've been posting. I haven't been posting a ton of really unique content - stuff that really reflects who I am. Without making excuses, life has just been busy - visitors and being with Halle have been the two great things keeping me busy recently. Next up will be focusing on my venture, but I actually do have some things to share with you this coming week... like my fabulous weekend, some autumn decorating I've completed and possibly even my garage sale chair reveal!

I love blogging, I love sharing things I do and love, and I REALLY love hearing from all of you wonderful people - whether it's how I've inspired you, questions you have or just a sweet note letting me know you like what I do! :) Thanks for reading and following along... you are the reason I love doing this! 

Fancy Friday Love

Can you believe that it's already the last Friday of September. Time is flying! Here is what I loved this week...

Hello cozy breakfast nook! I'll take two please! (via Milk & Honey Home)

Adoring this cozy space as well, found on pink wallpaper. I would be happy to curl up on that day bed with a book for a day and just lounge...

When I saw this sweet space on 79 ideas yesterday, all I could think was - how cute is this room? It's so simple, with it's black and white scheme, but those polka dots just add so much to the space! It's official - I love polka dot wallpaper!

When we moved into this rental I was so excited to finally have a formal dining space. I imagined creating something like this pretty space (only on a smaller scale), photographed by Eric Roth and featured on desire to inspire. Well, I'll give you a look in the coming weeks but my dining room definitely looks nothing like this at the moment...

Well, it's Friday and my parents final full day here! We'll find some fun way to enjoy it! Tomorrow I am off for a girl's day and night! I'll be heading downtown for IDSWest and then a fun night with the west coast blogging crowd! I'm looking forward to a fun time, and a solid night's sleep on my own at the St. Regis Hotel. Keep an eye out next week for my recap, but for now I bid you a beautiful final September weekend! Enjoy!

9861 days

In a way, that seems like a lot... but not really at the same time. If you're wondering, 9861 days is 27 years and that is how old I am today.

No big plans to celebrate. Just spending the day with my parents and Halle, and some time with B in the evening once he is home for work. Okay, I lie... I may have plans to eat a cupcake... or two.

I think that 27 is going to be a GREAT YEAR! I've started planning to do something that I have been thinking of and talking to B about for a couple of years now. The timing finally feels right and I'm working with another talented blogger to get some design work done so that I can finally do what I've always wanted. I hope to share my new venture with you all next month... but with that deadline planned, I have a lot of work to get done! 

Have a Happy Tuesday everyone, and I hope to be around as much as possible over the next little while.