Thursday, July 30, 2009

anthro mail

Hopefully you aren't too sick of my adoration for Anthropologie yet? Because I got two pretty pieces of mail from them this week {in the midst of my bills and flyers} and I just had to share. Each piece is simple, but well designed and cuter than can be. I'm scratching my head at how they were able to pull off these seemingly handmade pieces for a mass mailing though. They are just too clever!

Monday, July 27, 2009

i wish i had this...

...gorgeous drawing nook in my living room. {House & Home magazine}

Friday, July 24, 2009

we are in wedding bells magazine!

Some of our casual and pretty white centrepieces are featured in the Fall/Winter 2009 issue of Wedding Bells magazine! See above for the article on the top right of the page {you can click the photos to make them larger}. Thanks so much to the great gals at Wedding Bells, and also to Jessica who helped make it happen with her awesome tweets!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

comfy (but funky) shoes




My mom told me that a day would come when I would choose comfort over fashion and I didn't believe her. I guess it's a sign of getting older, as nowadays I am constantly on the lookout for comfortable shoes with a fashionable twist. Not always an easy combination! Last week Nicole wrote about these FRYE Women's Ada Pleats Peep Toe Pumps and I can't stop thinking about them...they are so funky but are apparently really comfy too! Now to decide...what colour? I love the lemon ones! And the coral is cool too. But is sky more practical?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

a preview: circus wedding pictures

Here are a few teaser shot of my sister's Vintage Circus Wedding that took place last weekend...as I mentioned, we can't show too many shots until they are published in a magazine in December, but I can barely contain myself, so I just had to share a few!

Monday, July 20, 2009

easy botanical wall art

As you know, I am a sucker for botanical prints. And in addition to large vintage botanical prints, I also love the look of this symmetrical 'collection' too - it has huge impact! I recently found this great blog that features many free high-res vintage botanical prints. Hmmm...not sure if it is legal to distribute copyright images like these but ah well...get 'em while they're hot!

You might have to scroll through quite a few pages before you find a bunch of similar images. But when you do, just click on one of the images you like and it will enlarge in a new window. Then right click on it and save it to your desktop. Then you can open the file and print it. If you are familiar with any photo editing programs, you can resize the images so they are all the same size {e.g. 5" x 7"}. Buy a bunch of frames from IKEA {they seem to have the cheapest selection} and voila - you have yourself some easy peasy wall art!

the circus wedding...

...was absolutely fabulous! Everything was beautiful, whimsical, magical and went off as planned. I will post a few photos, although we have to be careful - a magazine expressed interest in featuring the wedding in their December issue, so we'll have to hold off on showing most of the photos until then. But we might be able to post just a few, so stay tuned!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

canada's next top model

Yay...my favourite girl won the title of Canada's Next Top Model last night! I had a lady crush on Meaghan from the beginning and was hoping she would win. Normally the very exotic brunettes win though, not the blue-eyed blonds, so I was quite surprised. Not only is Meaghan lovely, but she actually seemed to be one of the nicer girls on the show. Nikita not so much!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

getting ready for the circus!

My sister Shayna's circus wedding is fast approaching! In fact, it is on Saturday and it looks like everything is in order!

Shayna's friend Rashmi painted this cute circus poster for her, in the wedding colours of yellow and teal. I helped make them into invitations complete with envelopes, maps, and admit one tickets.

My circus wedding outfit is coming together nicely to...

this is my dress from Fraiche and ribbon from Mokuba
these are my accessories - an over-sized fabric flower from Le Chateau
and feathery fascinator made by my cousin Julia


these are my yellow {and extremely comfy} heels from the Kenneth Cole store in Chicago.

Monday, July 13, 2009

what i did in chicago

Apologies for being AWOL last week! P. and I went on a much-needed getaway to Chicago. We had an amazing time! Here is some of what we did:

1. took in the view from our upgraded hotel room {I think they thought we were newlyweds and we didn't dispute...2 years is still newly wed, no?}

2. went on a riverboat architecture tour {such great buildings in Chicago!}

3. shopped and shopped on the Magnificent Mile {and admired the colourful streetside gardens along the way}

4. perused the Art Institute of Chicago and marveled at the pointillism in A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte {Georges Seurat}...this painting is gigantic! We also saw American Gothic {Grant Wood}...and you thought the painting was creepy! Check out this scary sculpture.

5. remember this fountain from the opening of Married With Children?

6. took photos in this cool mirror ball thingie {Cloud Gate Sculpture} at Millenium Park

7. enjoyed the beach and walked along Lake Michigan

8. shopped again and then admired the beautiful Tiffany's ceiling at Marshall Field's-now-Macy's.

9. took the 'L' {elevated Train} to Wrigley Field where we caught a Cubs game and laughed at the houses across the street that converted their rooftops to bleachers with great views of the game. Genius actually!

10. saw a free concert at noon at the most amazingly beautiful outdoor concert venue {Jay Pritzker Pavillion}...Frank Gehry yay!

11. ate way too many lemon bars at the Corner Bakery Cafe, but definitely walked them off. I had to toss out a pair of shoes...which means I have to buy another pair...and P. knows how much of a hardship that is for me to buy another pair of shoes :)

12. snapped a license plate pic for my growing collection

So that is our trip in a nutshell! Chicago is such a beautiful, clean, friendly city...but now I'm ready for another vacation!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

studio choo

Check out these quirky succulent boutonierres from Studio Choo. And their adorable business card too! {found via Saipua}.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

SYTYCD: costume change



Did you see this great costume change on So You Think You Can Dance last night? Take a peek at 0:35...it's genious! These two, Karla and Vitolio, went home tonight despite their wonderful quickstep. But how I loved Karla's split-second change of dress! I wish I had a piece in my wardrobe that could do the same!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

happy birthday canada!


Even though I had to work all day, it did feel like a lovely mini weekend in the middle of the week. And I did celebrate by going out to dinner and dessert with my peeps {strawberry and chocolate crepes anyone?}.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to bake today, but here is a cake I made a few Canada Days ago, inspired by this recipe from Kraft. I think I've had dessert on the mind a lot lately, as my past few posts have featured cake or cupcakes!

Happy birthday Canada...this is truly a wonderful country to live in!