Supergeek

I have been talking to Kyle about this for weeks now, so I figured it was time to share it here, too.

Everywhere, all over the place, all the cool kids are wearing these amazing, dorky chic glasses. And I want in. First, this vintagey shape was mostly in suglasses form. But now it's all over the place! The deal was sealed when I saw Amber from Parenthood and Finn on last week's episode of Glee (Aside - didn't they do an amazing job of Rocky Horror Picture Show??) sporting them.

I especially love these ones at Warby Parker. The Matte Black finish? All I have to say is: Yeah. These guys seriously get me.

They're called the Roosevelt, which is just perfect.

A try-on pair of these might find their way into my mailbox very, very soon.

Sea Sickness

Octopi freak me out. Not because of the way they look, but because I truly believe that if their lifespans were long enough, they could easily rule the world. Their intelligence in comparison to humans is freaky (I once saw a documentary which equated the intelligence of a two-year-old octopus with a five-year-old human child).

And not only that, but I have a very active imagination. As a child, I had nightmares that Ursula (from the little mermaid) lived in our bathroom toilet and would one day come up the drain and consume me as I did my pee.

So I'm not exactly sure why I've been having trouble getting this Octopus shower curtain from Thomas Paul out of my head. Because I do NOT want it. No, Sirree.

$96 USD at Design Public

And I especially do not want to wrap myself up in those freaky, coldly calculating, exquisitely illustrated tentacles or rub them against my face with this baby alpaca throw.

$350 USD at Design Public

No, definitely not.

Except that I do. In fact, I think I may have some sort of nautical illness. Every time I think about decorating our new living room, I am thinking about navy and stripes and rope and anchors. And wondering where I can get a round mirror that feels like a porthole. I haven't been able to get this print from Banquet off my mind for nearly six months.

Marine Animals Poster, $60 USD

So what do I do? Do I run with it? or is this theme-y bordering on tacky?

Obsessed

When I first discovered Etsy, I was obsessed with perusing over all the amazing handmade goods. Still am, to a point. But my new obsession: vintage homegoods!

Some favourites:

antique sowerby fern print at Hindsvik (who also write a great blog)

Deer Candleholders at Redtruckdesigns

(can't decide whether I'd leave these brass or spray them a fun colour...)

Mid-1970's Rand McNally Globe at SurrenderDorothy

Coffee/Tea Set at Red Eye Vintage

I think I may need to allot myself a monthly Etsy allowance...

UO print shop

Art is a great way to personalize a space, to make it feel lived in, without doing so much as picking up a paintbrush. An unframed art print is also a very portable sort of thing, which means I can mail it back home or bring it with me when the time comes.

The Urban outfitters print shop has an awesome (and inexpensive!) range of prints from independent artists which is always changing. There are two in particular that I really, really want to buy right now.

by Andrea Orlic

by Steph Says Hello

I also saw this awesome idea for hanging unframed art prints today from Ladies & Gentlemen Studio (via apartmenttherapy):

Methinks an idea is forming...

(insert delighted squeals here)

'Need' is a strong word, but....

I think it applies pretty nicely here.
One of many beauties by Melissahappystuff on Etsy.

Pillow talk

Since we are still undecided about how long we want to stay here in St. John's (Read: we want to go hoooomme), Kyle and I have decided not to make any large or long-term furniture purchases here. We want to be able to sell everything we own, pack up the car, and high-tail it outta here.

That said, we want to make our place nice (well, I want to make it nice. I'm partially convinced that Kyle would be perfectly happy with milk crates for tables, a bean bag chair, and a really big TV). I think we could become exponentially happier here (by here, I mean in the new house we move into next month) if we can make it feel like home as much as possible. One of my favourite ways to do this: textiles! Curtains, sheets, throw pillows and blankets.

So here are my Etsy favourites in the throw pillow category.

 

Kainakin, $19

 

Swoonstudio, $35 for two

  

Iviemade, $44

Myadobecottage, $35

 

Myadobecottage, $32

 

TurquoiseTumbleweed, $40

 

ModDiva, $27.95

 

Nenavon, $25

Hmm. Bows, Burlap, Ikat, Suzanni, Marimekko, Chevron. Yes, it would seem I am a sickening trend-follower.

(this is the sound of my jaw hitting the floor)

wow.

A papercut map of the world by La Famille Summerbelle, who also brought us maps of London, Paris, and New York.

Can't Wait.

I can't wait to get my hands on Pia Jane Bijkerk's new book, Amsterdam Made by Hand. I loved the look of her first book, Paris Made by Hand, but never picked it up.

This one, however...
Kyle and I plan to pay a visit to Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands to see all my family who were unable to make it over here for our wedding. We want to make the most of our visit, mixing touristy goodness with a few more behind-the-scenes spots, and hopefully our budget will allow for us to pick up a few loverly knicknacks for ourselves and our home while we're at it.

A few shots from the book, gathered from here:

Oh, yes.
Available June 1, but you can preorder from Amazon (link above) now.

A premature announcement + Adventures in Canadian furniture shopping

So my new job (this is a bit cocky to say, it hasn't yet been officially offered to me) is in St. John's, Newfoundland. Random, yes, I know.

Kyle and I are beyond excited for it, though. We really think this move is not only going to be a fun adventure for us, but moving to a place where the cost of living is so much lower than here is going to help us get ahead financially in ways we could never accomplish on the west coast.

We are planning on selling nearly all of our worldly possessions here in preparation for this move, since moving furniture is pricey, especially for things of such low quality as we've accumulated here.  This presents challenges, of course: we are going to have to start anew when (if) we get to our new home. St. John's is not very big, certainly smaller than here, and I am not familiar with the shops there AT ALL. All I know is that the nearest IKEA (they who bringeth good design to us peasant people) is very, VERY far away. In fact, every retailer I know of is very, very far away from St. John's.

So I've been doing some searching on the internet, and it looks like my design options will be..... well, lacking, with the exception of a couple of small and pricey shops.

Enter Modern Karibou, which is an online Canadian store with all the modern design I've been drooling over for the past.... wait, when was the internet invented?... let's just say, forever (and whose website i just spent a completely indecent amount of time drooling over).

Including this sofa from Gus* Modern, which I have subsequently nicknamed 'the sexiest sofa ever in the history of the universe':

Carter Sectional

Yeah, so, it's $3500. But we are talking about forever peices here, no? (Bonus: Gus* is also a Canadian company who is beginning to construct their furnishings from sustainable woods and fabrics)

and this just-right coffee table from OFFI:

Scando Table, $649-799 CAD

I've created a wishlist to show Kyle when he gets home, which includes a lot of bed and table linens from Dwell and Amenity, as well as a Fatboy. (Side note: looking at my wishlist, my choices are much more strong-lined and masculine than I would ever have guessed.)

So, in short, I can't afford any of this. But you bet I can save my pennies and make splurges one at a time until I have the furniture collection I've always lusted over.

And, In the meantime, I can always go fantasy-shopping.

The best dress

I LOVE dresses. Did you know that, chickens?
In fact, Over the past year, I have worn them almost exclusively. I have one pair of jeans which get a fair rotation in my closet and a pair of trousers I wear once in a blue moon, but other than that, Dresses and tights and cardigans make up the bulk of the things I wear.

and this Kate spade dress is making me absolutely swoon right now:


So modern, so ladylike, and that bow? catch me, please.

Drink up

I love a good cup of tea.

chamomile, peppermint, and chai are my favourites, thought I would never turn down a fragrant green.

something about the utensils used to brew and drink tea have meaning, don't you think? I've always preferred to have a lovely teapot, and I always seem to have a special mug dedicated to it.

(found here)

That said, aren't these just the sweetest? Nothing like a simply designed, solidly made tea set to say here, drink this, it's good for your soul.

ring-a-ling

Ever since seeing this post written by this girl, I have been obsessed with tiny, dainty, delicate, pretty rings. I have searched for them in jewellery stores, and they do exist - but they are all diamond-encrusted and expensive, regardless of girth. And while no girl would say no to a bit of sparkle - especially tiny, dainty, ladylike sparkle - I'm just not convinced that an eensie weensie ring would hold its diamonds well enough to stand up to my nursing career*. Also, our budget for rings is $400 for both of us, and well... diamonds just don't fit.

so, etsy to the rescue, of course!

(harvestgoldgallery)


(sea babe jewellery)

Also, what are your thoughts on mixing metals? My engagement ring is a white gold solitaire, but I am kind of feeling yellow or rose for a band - and then the next day, I just call myself crazy and 'decide' on white again. I am stuck.

*I plan on wearing the band only to work for hygenic reasons, and the engagement/band set together pretty much the rest of the time - so they need to work well together and seperately.

I have a dream (kitchen).

(source unknown)

Everyone fantasizes about the future. I sure do. I believe that visualizing the future helps us figure out what we want and keep focused on the paths to achieving our dreams. Some of those dreams are personal, familial, spiritual, even. Some are financial, especially for those of us toeing the poverty line. One of my dreams is to have a fabulous kitchen.

Shallow, sure. But, well, who doesn't want a fabulous kitchen? But I also dream of attaining that kitchen beautifully and affordably, without anything generic or dateable.

I dream of white lower cabinets, fabulous countertops in a combination of carerra marble (my splurge) and thick butcher block, which I will chop on unashamedly, beleiving that knife marks = character. My dream kitchen has a huge island, a great pantry, and meticulously efficient drawers and cupboards. It doesn't have to be huge, but I'd like the island to house a stool or two at which I can sit with my books and coffee in the mornings.

It has great appliances, but they aren't stainless steel, because I firmly beleive that this is the avocado-green of the future. I cook with gas if possible, but a ceramic cooktop is also acceptable.

there are no upper cabinets, but open shelving is welcome for displaying collections of lovely ceramics and useful tools (in my dream kitchen, dust is not an issue).

floors are wooden. no contest. Limed, if possible, would be perfect. oh, and laid in a herringbone parquet pattern, please.

Backsplashes are important. I like back-painted glass, or black pennyrounds. The walls are white (probably) and there is a skylight or other source of incredible natural light (definitely).

(here via here)

Do you care for a cup of coffee in my fabulous eventual kitchen?

Slapsgiving weekend.

Hello, again!

This past weekend was thanksgiving weekend for those of us here in Canada who celebrate the real thanksgiving ;).

We had dinner here at our place. This was the third or fourth Turkey I have made. It was still partially frozen when I put it in the oven. It turned out delicious and tender, albeit 1 1/2 hours later than I had planned for. I was worried, because I do not have a meat thermometer (you may point accusatory fingers at me as you wish. I could kill somebody). So far, nobody has called to tell me about salmonella poisoning.

Anyway, Sunday involved a lot of boiling and testing and mashing carrots and turnips (which, let's be honest, logic dictates should not be a food, but we mash it with carrots and brown sugar and BUTTER! anyway) and cream-braising brussels sprouts until they are nutty and delicious (deemed worthy for consumption by my sixteen-year-old brother whose last vegetable was LAST slapsgiving dinner, when I last made said brussels sproups) and making pumpkin pie from scratch for the first time. By scratch, I mean that I used canned pumpkin and spiced it myself. I did make my own crust, I'm pretty good with shortcrust pastry.

But, DID YOU KNOW that there is condensed milk in a pumpkin pie filling? Well, there is. And, had you, like me, forgotten that condensed milk is totally, completely, out-of-this-world scrumptious and decadent?? WHO NEEDS THE PIE?

Also, on sunday, I got registered.

(as a sex offender. Ha, ha)

No, but actually, I meant that we registered for wedding gifts. And can I be totally, brutally honest? It was about six million times more fun that I could ever have dreamed of. Even though there are basically only two choices of store to register at. One is The Bay, and the other is Home Outfitters, which is owned by The Bay. It's either that, or ask for cash envelopes. Seriously! You think I am kidding.

We registered for a bunch of stuff, mostly small. But the size doesn't really matter for the most part, because people are going to buy it! for me! and I won't even have to pay! just because they love me, and they love Kyle, and Kyle and Me love each other! Isn't that fabulous?

We did scan just one big-ticket item, though:

Dyson Ball Animal DC-25

At $699, this is likely out of our friends' and families' price ranges. I do not expect to actually get this, unless we have some particularly generous-feeling grandparents or our friends decide to give us a group gift. The Bay does have a neat program in which we can continue to add items to our registry up to our first anniversary, then buy things off it at the best sale price it has had in the past year. Cool, yeah? makes me want to toss all our stuff to the curb, just so I can be all like BUT CHECK OUT THE DEAL I GOT ON THE NEW ONE.

I won't do that, though, because I'm not crazy.

*if you get the slapsgiving reference, you are officially awesome and can we be friends?

A lovely place to snuggle up

In the post about setting up the bed, you can see that we've got white sheets on the bed.

I just bought them the day before the bed came, and oooh, how crazy I must be. I am that person who will projectile-spill my coffee, curry, red wine, or tomato sauce past any and all dark-coloured clothing, just so that I can screw up the three square inches of white I am wearing.


I hesitated about buying white sheets. But they were cheap, they had a high thread count, and after all, white is my favourite colour! So I did it.


And I am so, so glad. I feel so clean and cozy crawling into my white-sheeted bed.


I'm now daydreaming about a white duvet. Specifically this one from Designer's Guild.


Just for one second, can we focus on the edge detail on the pillow shams and flat sheet? Come on! That's beautiful!


Thankfully, it's much more money than I am willing to spend on something that would be wrecked immediately*


I am also in love with this:


*even if not by me, directly. Remember the big black dog? The consequences of what would happen to that beautiful bed if I accidentally left the bedroom door open when I went out make me cringe.

!!!!

Did you know!? About these gorgeous ceramics?! Were you aware that such a wonderful thing existed in this world!?

If you did, internet, how dare you not have told me sooner.

All by Ninainvorm, who gets extra awesomeness points for living in the Netherlands.

I can't pick a favourite. But if you forced me to, I might pick the jug, pictured last.

Stuff I want to wear.

I love to wear dresses. I own more dresses than I do pairs of pants. Not pairs of jeans, mind you; pairs of pants. Period.

I am out of things to wear for fall. And I'm thinking:
Rather than suffer the indignity of trying to find a pair (or several) of jeans for a girl with hips (and a bum, and thighs, oh and a belly too), why don't I just keep on wearing my dresses? What if I just pair them with tights and sweet sweaters and coats and boots?

Which lead me to mod cloth, of course.

Some of my faves, which I might just buy:

Pottery Studio Dress, $49.99*

Chamomile Dress, $52.99

Perfect in Pinstripe Dress, $117.99

Antique Trellis Dress in weekday, $59.99

Imbibtion Dress, $49.99

I tried to pick only dresses that I knew I could and would wear any day of the week, and which would suit my body shape. But really, it was horrible to make me choose only a few to share. You should really be ashamed of yourself.

Also, does anyone out there have a suggestion for best pair of leggings in the entire world? ones that are thick enough to stay warm in yet don't bunch up, durable, and actually stay up? Black is a necessity, other colours are a bonus. (Available in Canada would be a bonus, too)
Footed and footless candidates may apply.

*all prices in USD. Because even though I'm not American, this is the language of the internet, yo**.
** I NEVER say that in real life. Well, okay; only when I'm drunk.

I was going to call this post Fab Prefab, but go ahead and see if there aren't 6000 blog posts out there with that title.

After this post, nobody will ever beleive me when I say that I dislike new construction ever again.
It's true that I really (really!) hate cookie-cutter suburban developments that have granite countertops, engineered hardwood floors, and cherry cabinets. or whatever the trifecta is.

I also really dislike the 'more is more' stance that many people seem to have. I watch HGTV real estate shows where people see a 3000 square foot home and say "I don't know if this is enough space for us, because we might have a baby one day and god knows we don't want to share a universe with it. Plus, where's the dog's bedroom? Where's the fourth full bathroom so that I don't have to pee in the same toilet as my husband, kids, or guests?"
I vow, right here and right now, that I will never, ever buy a home more than 1600 square feet. 2 bathrooms, max. Why? Because somebody has to clean all that extra space. And it ain't gonna be me.
/end tangent.

What I really wanted to say was that I think the idea of prefab living is super cool. Not prefab as in a double-wide, of course. But check some of these out:

(click on photos to link to their sources)

My favourite prefab concepts involve homes made from shipping containers. Keep in mind, the ones in the photos are actually huge, and break my 1600 square foot rule.

The LV series of homes from Rocio Romero is another very cool design. For the LVL (3bedrooms, 2bathrooms, 1453 square feet), prices begin at $42,950 (this is their large model, other smaller homes cost even less). This includes the walls and exterior only; the client builds their own foundation, purchases their own windows, and then installs all interior fixtures and fittings to suit their tastes. Dreamy.

there are so many companies now doing prefab homes. some are assembled on-site, others are delivered whole with everything including the kitchen sink already installed. Prices range hugely, but many are intended to cost less than a standard site-built home. One thing I love about the modern design of many of these is that they are designed to let in LIGHT. Lots of LIGHT. From the SUN. Something my current home lacks sorely.

Now, if someone just wants to give me a peice of land...

Bedclothes to dream about.

I just stumbled across Ell & Cee, a lingerie boutique in the UK. They do ship internationally, though.


all of their peices are so beautiful and feminine...

I think this beachsuit is my favourite. Great for summertime lounging or flirty bikini cover-up, no?

find them all here.