Royal Wedding

I pvr’d the Royal Wedding on Thursday night.  First thing Friday morning I tried to get my two boys excited about watching the wedding with me.  The idea of seeing a ‘real princess’ captured their collective attention for approximately two milliseconds.  1 pillow fight, 2 shouting matches, and 1 bonked head later, I gave up and turned it off. 

Luckily, Care and her boys showed up for a visit.  We sent the 4 boys to the basement to play, made a pot of tea, and settled in to watch.  Both Carolee and I sat there with big dorky grins and loved every minute of it!  (Well… not EVERY minute.  We zipped through the boring parts – thank you pvr.)  Here are the parts that I want to remember:  

Kate in her breathtaking Alexander McQueen gown:

Harry whispering “…wait till you see her…” to William, with the cutest grin as Kate walked up the aisle:

William whispering “You look beautiful” to Kate as she arrives at the altar (omg, so sweet):

Harry in the kids carriage:

Pippa looking fabulous (read this… ha!) as the maid of honor: 

The balcony kiss: 

Carolee and I shrieked/cringed/laughed when we saw it.  We had to rewind it a couple of times partly because it was so quick, and we were like, THAT’S IT???  And partly to watch them grin and blush afterwards.  We both agreed that they should have practiced more.  But then again, the kiss looks perfect in all of the photos I’ve seen, so maybe they knew what they were doing after all.

Thank you William and Kate for allowing us to believe in fairy tales… please live happily ever after!

photos via 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Guest Post

Today I'm over at JPM Design...

JPM Design

Mary is an interior designer/event stylist in California... and her blog is full of fabulous inspiration.  It's one of my daily reads, so I'm pretty excited that she invited me over today!

I'm sharing one of my best tips for decorating on a budget... so make sure you stop by to check it out!

Obsession: Beni Ouarain Rugs

I’m seeing these vintage Moroccan rugs everywhere and loving them.  They are the perfect mix of geometric + fluffy + exotic (if that makes any sense.)  Plus I seem to love everything black and white.

photos:

Trad Home, Trad Home, Dwell Studio Blog, Living Etc., Elle Decor, House & Home

Inspired By: House of Fifty

I’m so inspired right now!  Just had a quick browse through Janell Beals’ new ezine, House of Fifty.  I loved it.  This is my kind of mag… it has such a positive feeling.  One of my favourite parts was the ‘50 Ideas We’re Thinking About’… it really got me thinking!  Ha!
Of course there is plenty of interior gorgeousness:

And I’ll be checking out the organizing tips and resources more thoroughly this afternoon:

images via House of Fifty
Congrats to Janell on this fabulous magazine! 
BTW…  how awesome is Janell???  She bounced back from a career disappointment (being passed over for an opportunity because of her age… read this …) with House of Fifty!!!  Inspiring?  Ummmm…yes!

The Right White

Ugh… I’m stuck.  I’ve been painting again, and I’m right in the middle of it, and I can’t figure out which color of white to use.  Here’s the deal:
My house was full of oak (thanks to the 1980’s ‘oak package’): 
A couple of years ago I painted all of the baseboards out.  I had a color consultant come in and she recommended Dufferin Terrace (CC-456) for the walls and Gray Mist (CC-80) for the baseboards, etc.  The colors are great together and worked well with all of the oak that still remained in my house (which was a lot… blurg…)
The thing is… I’m tired of the taupe-y greigey oaky feel of my house.  So I decided to just go for it, and paint everything white (all oak included, obvs.) 
I want this:

1,2,3 via Dabble Magazine  4,5 via House & Home
Here’s where it gets muddled up:
I tried Gray Mist (CC-80) on the foyer paneling, and it was way to dull and murky.  At the moment I have Oxford White (CC-30) on my foyer paneling.  It’s better, but not perfect (a bit too cool because the space doesn’t get much light.)  I have Vanilla Milkshake (OC-59) on my family room paneling.  I like it, but don’t LOVE it.  I don’t want to go as cool as Decorators White (CC-20).  And for some reason I have this opinion that Cloud White (CC-40) is unoriginal (but I still might end up choosing it.)  I was thinking of Swiss Coffee (OC-60) for my walls.   
So… does anyone have a favourite white?  Something foolproof?

Holiday Highlights

I’m back from my Vegas vacation, and pretty much rested up.  It’s amazing that holidays can be so exhausting!  I have to say it was worth it, though.  Here are some highlights:
1.  Shopping…
My favourite new item is this fabulous maxi dress from Anthropologie:
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2.  Entertainment…
Saw the show ‘Jersey Boys’, so now I can’t get this song out of my head:
3.  Sunshine…
It was warm enough to spend our afternoons by the pool… yay!
Mandalay Bay Wave Pool  
(Yes… I totally took my iPad to the pool… and yes… I am wearing a dress over my bikini because you really don’t need to see how white my stomach is!)
4.  Food…
I thought it would be a challenge being a vegan in Vegas, but it was surprisingly easy to find delicious options.  My two faves were the vegan risotto at Sensi in the Bellagio, and the veggie lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang’s in Planet Hollywood.
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5.  Piano Bar…
We randomly met a fun couple from Saskatoon at the piano bar in NY NY!  Wish we would have snapped a picture with them because the girl was wearing an awesome red dress and she had the shoes that I REALLY wanted but couldn’t find in my size at the Nine West outlet…  I’m pretty sure the girl’s name was Rhonda, and we can’t remember the guy’s name.  (We’re so classy.)  Fun night though…

Yikes!  The out-of-control lipstick says a lot! 

p.s.  The LOW POINT of the trip was the MAJOR turbulence on the flight between Saskatoon and Denver which cased the guy in THE SEAT BEHIND ME to get air sick.  Yep, puke-a-ramma.  I swear it happens every time I fly, which is why flying gives me panic attacks.  Lovely.   

100 Things: Part 7

This is a list of 100 Things that make me happy... more details here.

31. Green Juice

32. Sunglasses

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33. Eiffel Chairs

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34. Rubber Boots

35. Vacation

Vintage Suitcases

This is me today…

Except that it’s not me at all because I’m trying to fit everything into a carry-on.  Crazy, I know.  Guess who’s idea THAT was.  (If you guessed me, then your wrong.)  I’m pretty sure that I’ll be buying a bag to bring things home in.  A carry-on just doesn’t leave adequate room for purchases.
Anyways… I’m totally side-tracked from packing (and cleaning my house to a level that is acceptable for hosting Grandma & Grandpa.)  But look at these displays of vintage suitcases that I found!  I want some!
***WARNING… this post is photo overload… didn’t have time to edit… need to get back to packing… but make sure you scroll to the end because the last photo is awesomesauce***
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All photos found on Pinterest

Freebies

Came across a couple of pretty fabulous freebies this week:

1.  Free Art Prints by Leanne at Make it Perfect.  This one is my favourite, but there are a bunch of cute ones to choose from. 

2.  Free iPad / iPhone / desktop wallpaper from Red Stamp.